Free beer still flowing for Coors employees

I know you’ve been worried. Or worried-ish. But rest assured that, unlike their peers up at Molson Coors in Canada, the approximately 2,800 employees at MillerCoors in Golden will continue to get their 864 free beers a year … for now. Last week, I read that Molson Coors — the…

Tonight: Barbecue, beasts and biodynamic wines

Devil’s Food Bakery, the bake shop and java joint at 1020 South Gaylord Street, is welcoming Denver-based food stylist and cookbook designer Erica McNeish from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. tonight for a down-home dinner featuring barbecue, sandwiches, grilled sweet corn, Southern-style salads (many of which are vegetarian), cobblers and…

Pho and Yo, together again

It’s a quiet Wednesday, and I’m hunkered down at the diner where I do the bulk of my work — which means trolling the interweb looking for stories about cheeseburgers, zombies and the washed-up antics of ’80s movie stars, and making a few inquiries into the status of Chinook opening…

Bijou Cocktail at Vesta Dipping Grill

A number of Denver restaurants have bars that just do everything right. The restaurateurs recognize the importance of a comfortable bar setting. The bartenders are professionals who understand the complexity of a cocktail — and the simple value of a substantial pour. And the chefs realize that it’s important to…

The Fainting Goat revived a doomed address

The Fainting Goat is just nine blocks up Broadway from Dougherty’s — and less than a block away from my office. As a result, I’ve been to the Goat, which just opened last November, more times than I can count, and have occasionally left it in no condition to be…

Prime time at Primebar

Primebar, the new restaurant in the old home of Palamino at 1515 Arapahoe Street, opened last month — but it threw its big grand-opening bash, a benefit for Food Bank of the Rockies, last night. The very pretty space was packed with pretty people — but looking even better than…

Guess where I am…?

Ah, yes.  Another installment in my favorite time-wasting afternoon game: Can you guess where the critic is eating? On my first visit to a restaurant as a non-anonymous restaurant critic?Here’s a clue: I chose this place specifically 1) because I love it and have been eating here almost obsessively for…

More news from the new Snooze

Just drove by the soon-to-be-pancake-land over at 700 Colorado Boulevard, where the second Snooze is scheduled to take up residence sometime in August.And from the looks of things, owner Jon Schlegel isn’t wasting a lick of time. Tear-down seems to be proceeding nicely (as evidenced by the clouds of dust…

Our Weekly Bread: Lakeside Waffles

The sandwich: Cee-Lo What’s on it: Country ham, turkey, bacon and Swiss on French toast-battered, waffle-grilled potato bread Where to get it: Lakeside Waffles (4335 West 44th Avenue) How much: $7 I’ve got two words for you: guilty pleasure. Or how about: hangover cure. Either one fits the Cee-Lo, a…

Birthdays, barbecue and Black Pearl

For reasons that are now unclear to me, I thought that attending the anniversary bash of Black Pearl, the classy Platt Park restaurant at 1529 South Pearl Street that celebrates its fourth birthday this month, would be a night off from the typical debauchery that follows me just about everywhere…

The name game continues at Hickory Prime

Gallagher’s held down the corner of 15th and Arapahoe for a decade. But one day last fall, the steakhouse pulled the franchise, and building owner Bruce Rahmani replaced Gallagher’s with the locally operated (by J.G. “Lupe” Gonzales) 5280 Steak House, which quickly changed its name to Hickory Prime Steak House…

A fish story at Oceanaire’s Celebrate Alaska dinner

At last night’s “Celebrate Alaska” seafood dinner at Oceanaire, winner of the Best Seafood Restaurant in the Best of Denver 2009, we were stumped by the statement that Alaska ranks second-highest of all fifty states for production of seafood. What state could possibly rank higher? We googled as we swilled…

Cooking Dirty: Fourteen days and counting

And who, you may ask, is the handsome devil right there?  That’s me, folks. No bullshit. No disguises.  The anonymous restaurant critic in the flesh and en clair. On Monday, June 15, at around 4 p.m. local time, my cover was finally, permanently blown.  That picture is the jacket photo…

Del Maguey mezcal at Tambien tonight

Tonight, at 7:30 p.m., Tambien, the rollicking Mexican cantina at 250 Steele Street, is hosting a Del Maguey mezcal tasting and four-course dinner for $39.99 per person. The menu, paired with different mezcals, and prepared by chefs Sean Yontz and Jason Hayes, includes a cactus salad with grilled garlic prawns…

Lollipops and whiskey at Dougherty’s

I was at Dougherty’s the night that chef R.J. Van Stockum was adding Irish Leprechaun Lollipops to the menu. Lucky Leprechaun Lollipops. Irish Lollipops. The name had not yet been decided, but the prep had: a wad of Irish cheddar wrapped in prosciutto, cooked and stuck on the end of…

A Snoball’s chance

Get a taste of history when the Original Snoball Shack parks outside the Black American West Museum at 3091 California Street from11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The New Orleans-based franchise will be serving up a hundred flavors from its Snoball tent, and all for the…

Meet and greet at Civic Center Eats

The recent rains have greened up — and cleaned up — Civic Center Park, which was looking good for today’s first installment of Civic Center Eats, the weekly market and cafe that’s moved to mid-day Tuesday this year. The lineup of booths should increase through the summer, but already includes…

Colore Pizzeria Moderna opening pushed back to next week

As reported here a few weeks ago, Colore Pizzeria Moderna, a new pizza and pasta joint at 2700 South Broadway, was supposed to open today, but I just talked with co-owner Caroline Momo-Torres, who says that it’s not going to happen. “It’s like the last month of pregnancy, you know?…

New Einstein Bros. Bagels opens in Lowry

According to a quick count of the locations on the official Einstein Bros. Bagels website, Denver just got its twelfth Einstein Bros. Bagels shop, in Lowry’s Town Center at Second Avenue and Quebec. Although this is a national chain — with more than 430 stores either owned or franchised by…

3 Sons finally back in business

Here’s one for the books: 3 Sons is back in business, and even beat the June 20 opening date promised last week on its web site. In fact, it’s serving as of today in its new location at 14805 West 64th Avenue in Arvada…