Food & Drink

Kids are weird. They’re hungry when you’re not, and when you finally get them rounded up to head to their favorite restaurant, they clam up and claim they’re not hungry the moment the server arrives. When you ask what they want to eat, they shrug and say, “Whatever.” At Acova, that answer will get them a PB & J sandwich with a side. And “I’m not hungry” will land them a kid-sized cheeseburger with fries. You get the idea: Acova’s kids’ menu takes standard annoying answers and turns them into the names of dishes — which just might elicit a smile and get the young ones engaged in the family dinner. The only problem? Now you have to get them to choose a side dish. Unfortunately, “I hate you, Daddy,” won’t result in potato salad.

Oh, did you think we meant a flight of beers? No, we meant a flight, like in an airplane. Since opening in 2019, FlyteCo Brewing’s aviation theme has really taken off — and includes not just a salvaged plane wing at the entrance, runway striping on the floor and other aeronautical details, but a custom-built replica of the fuselage of a plane. Inside are jump seats, tables and plane windows where beer drinkers can gaze out at other customers. But you can order that flight of beers, too — in a carrier shaped like an airplane, of course.

Tennyson Street has changed a lot in the past five years — for better and for worse. One of the better changes has been the growth of a quality craft-beer scene that was bolstered in 2019 by two new breweries — FlyteCo Brewing and the Empourium Brewing — bringing the total to five between 38th and 46th avenues. Your best bet for a crawl? Start at FlyteCo, on 38th, and head north to the Empourium, the Grateful Gnome, De Steeg and Call to Arms. All have in-house or nearby food options, and among the five, you can find just about any style of lager or ale.

As winter approached during the pandemic, breweries rushed to install tents, domes, greenhouses or other enclosures that would allow them to seat people indoors — while outdoors — and still comply with social distancing rules. Westbound & Down Brewing took it to a whole other level, however, building a set of massive but elegant wooden barrels that came complete with heaters, Bluetooth speakers and room for six to sit and enjoy beer, fondue or other dishes from the brewpub. The Barrel Experience, as it was called, was a hit, and could live on at Westbound’s second location, now under construction in Lafayette.

TRVE Brewing has such a long, skinny space — it’s just eighteen feet across — that it didn’t make sense to seat people indoors for most of 2020. And the brewery has, or had, no patio seating whatsoever. But as 2021 rolled around, TRVE took over the back-alley parking lot of a neighboring business and installed the Dumpster Garden, a weekend-only pop-up outdoor beer garden featuring its cans and bottles. It was the most perfectly named, perfectly themed outdoor drinking spot for a dumpster fire of a year.

Ground-bound patios don’t really stand a chance when it comes to competing with their lofty rooftop counterparts — something the owners of Joyride Brewing knew when they first opened in 2014 and made plans to build a big deck on the roof. That dream became reality in 2019: The rooftop patio boasts not only its own bar with sixteen taps and room for 150 people, but stunning views that take in Denver’s skyline to the east, busy Sloan’s Lake Park just across the street, and Pikes Peak to the south (on a clear day). Get up there and have a beer!

We have yet to meet anyone who hasn’t had a good time at Raíces Brewing. That’s because there’s almost always something special happening here, either inside or on the patio, which provides views of the South Platte River, Mile High Stadium and an industrial neighborhood turning industrial-chic. Sometimes it’s Latin dancing or live music; at other times it’s a community or political forum, acting classes, an art show or a soccer party. And then there are the food trucks, featuring cuisine from all over Latin America. But Raíces — one of Colorado’s only Latino-owned breweries — is also beautiful, boasting high-arched ceilings, massive windows with sweeping views, murals, a stage and an elegant, tree-themed light fixture that can change colors depending on what flag or idea it is honoring. Oh, and the beer is lovely as well.

New Image Brewing releases beers at a frenetic pace — and with blasts of creativity. One week it’s an impossibly rich, dessert-like stout, and the next it’s an unfathomably complex take on a hazy IPA or a fruit-laden tart beer. Over the past two years, as the brewery added a production facility nearby, it took its beers to another level — not just in quality, consistency and palate-pleasing flavors, but with endless experimentation into process, ingredients and technique. And that means anything could be in store for the rest of 2021.

Ratio Beerworks suffered during the pandemic, but that suffering only seems to have made the hip RiNo staple even stronger. Built on a simple but well-crafted slate of solid beer choices (some with a twist), Ratio also has a unique style aesthetic, a killer patio, and an eye-opening arts and music-driven vibe. The brewery now regularly cans its beer, helping it find a larger audience, while a city street closure gave it a larger outdoor space. In 2021, Ratio has added a new and highly respected head brewer, and it will soon open a second location in south Denver — moves that will only elevate this already high-flying fun factory.

After a one-year hiatus, Factotum Brewhouse has resurrected its Grill and Swill program, wherein you bring your own steaks, burgers, dogs or veggies and fire ’em up on one of the brewery’s propane grills (which come complete with utensils). Don’t want to tote your own plates or condiments? Factotum will rent you some — and serve you all the beer you need for a proper backyard patio hang. “It’s just like going to the park,” the brewery says, “except the beer is fresher, the picnic tables are sturdier and the bathrooms are fancier.”

Spice Trade Brewery has unusual roots: It was born inside Arvada’s Yak & Yeti Restaurant, brewing beers made with herbs and spices to complement the Indian and Nepalese food. So it made sense that when the brewery opened its own distinct location in May 2020, it would push these flavors even further. The new Spice Trade, set in an airy corner spot and bursting with color and electricity, offers rotating street food and dishes from around the world, including everything from Thai wings and char siu barbecue to Moroccan tagine and butter chicken arancini. Pair them with beers like Tamarind Belgian Dubbel, Sichuan Saison and Chai Milk Stout, and you have a party in your mouth.

They don’t give Michelin stars for taprooms, but maybe they should. Because Wild Provisions Beer Project is certainly “worthy” of a detour, as the famous French restaurant guide suggests for its rated restaurants. An offshoot of 4 Noses Brewing, Wild Provisions, which opened in May 2020, specializes in two different styles of beer with centuries-old traditions: Belgian wild ales and Czech lagers. Both are brewed here using extremely specialized equipment, including a decoction mashing system, horizontal lagering tanks, open-topped fermenters and two coolships. The gorgeous taproom is just as well thought-out, with a wood-paneled half-circle bar and traditional side-pull, Czech-style faucet taps. Make the detour.

Most tasting rooms are little more than extensions of the distilleries themselves, but this space is a standout. The Family Jones Spirit House was the first distillery-restaurant in metro Denver, and its tasting room is actually a posh and inviting eatery. The distilling equipment towers over the bar on a mezzanine level, its shiny copper reminiscent of a church’s pipe organ. Below, neat pours of the distillery’s many products — some of which have never been bottled for sale outside the establishment — can be sampled alongside creative cocktails. If you fancy a bite to eat, so much the better, since the food menu is on par with the booze.

Whiskey doesn’t get much more Colorado than Laws. The distillery works with specific farmers in the San Luis Valley and on the eastern plains to source corn, rye, wheat and barley for its lineup of spirits. Those heirloom grains give the whiskeys (all Laws makes) a distinct terroir, bolstered by years in oak barrels. Laws was the first distillery in Colorado to produce a “bottled in bond” bourbon, meeting strict criteria for ingredients, age and provenance, and the attention to detail shows in each rich and complex sip.

Ashmead’s Kernel, Dabinett, Porter’s Perfection and Ruby Jon. Are these racehorses getting ready for the Kentucky Derby, or canine Best of Show winners? No, they’re just a few of the many apple varieties — some of which are grown and harvested in Colorado — that Talia and Daniel Haykin use to make sparkling ciders that rival wine in complexity, aroma and food-friendly balance. You can find Haykin ciders at some of Denver’s finest restaurants (a testament to their quality), on liquor store shelves and at the Aurora cidery, making it easy to pair them with your own culinary creations at home.

Chad and Marla Yetka named their urban winery after their first precious pooch, Bigsby the golden retriever. His image can be found — with pipe, top hat and tie — on the winery’s bottles, above the bar and on the sign gracing the venerable brick building facing the light rail line in RiNo. Bigsby is long gone, but you can hang out with other pups on the patios at Bigsby’s Folly or just bring your own, provided your pet follows in the footsteps of that perfect gentle-dog namesake. The wines, made from California-sourced grapes, are worthy of praise, too. And with a full food menu, Bigsby’s is a great destination whether you’re just in for a few sips or looking for dinner, drinks and celebrations. RiNo is going to the dogs, and that’s a good thing.

Colorado has its own vineyard and wineries, mostly on the Western Slope, but when Snooze co-founder Jon Schlegel decided to plunge into the world of wine, he looked abroad, and ended up living in Italy to learn the business. As a result, all the wines at his year-old winery in the Ballpark neighborhood start with grapes from the rolling hillsides of Italy. They’re crushed there, too, before the liquid is shipped to Denver for resting, blending and aging. So when you enjoy a glass or a bottle at the winery, you’re drinking Barolos, Nebbiolos, Barbarescos and other wines made according to Italian tradition and with 100 percent Italian ingredients.

You know you’re getting something good when Frasca Food & Wine co-owner Bobby Stuckey opens a wine bar. Not only has Stuckey earned the highest ranking from the Court of Master Sommeliers, but he’s also part owner of a winery in Italy. The restaurateur is also an audiophile, and at Sunday Vinyl, his wine bar by Union Station, you can find his love of both wine and vintage records on display. The sound system is as high-end as many of the bottles in the cellar, and there’s good food to accompany both, making this a destination on its own and not merely a parking spot for customers awaiting a table at Stuckey’s other project, Tavernetta, right next door.

If there were a love song to the Nob Hill Inn, it would be played on a steel guitar. The song would have some twang to it, and it would be sad and satisfying and honest. But last year, it was almost silenced. The Nob Hill Inn has been a drinker’s paradise for more than seventy years — serving everyone from Bob Dylan to politicos who used to make deals over the phone in corner booths — but this classic, down-and-dirty watering hole on Colfax almost dried up entirely during the pandemic. Without a kitchen or passable alternative, the place closed for months while it sold pizza and to-go drinks out of the back door and regulars hosted fundraisers. “We’ve had hard times before,” said John Plessinger, whose father bought the Nob in 1969 and put it in his name. “But nothing like this.” Still, Denver’s best dive bar survived, and today the Nob Hill Inn is again pouring drinks at its horseshoe-shaped bar.

The Tommy’s house margarita at Dos Santos gets people in the door, and it keeps those people coming back. One glance around the patio or through the glass doors at all the guests with margs in hand is enough to stop passersby in their tracks. True to an ideal house marg, this one is simple and addictive, made with nothing more than Arette blanco tequila, fresh lime juice and agave syrup. The price is right, and the balance of sweet and tangy is the perfect accompaniment for happy hour bites or tacos all night.

Señor Bear’s dinner menu spans several Latin American countries, and the happy-hour slate does, too — but with entirely different dishes created to inspire smiles and whimsy. Part of what makes the pre-dinner snack and drink specials here such a find is that nothing is just a tossed-off reject from dinner or a filler made from cheap ingredients. The Gordo Crunch is a little miracle inspired by Mexican-American fast food, a soft tortilla layered on a crunchy one and filled with mild chorizo, cheese, lettuce and special sauce. There are also plates of chicharrones, bowls of guacamole, mini servings of oozy queso with toasted chile oil, and even a seafood (for happy hour? Outrageous!) tostada. Drinks come priced for multiple rounds, too, so don’t come by car unless someone else is driving.