Yes, businesses are having a tough time right now, restaurants especially, but you can’t blame all closings on the bad economy. Sometimes it’s simply a matter of bad management. Or just a single bad decision (or lack thereof). That was the case with the downtown Denver Palomino, which the Denver…
Since it opened in April, Sexy Pizza has gotten plenty of people seriously aroused. But it’s not easy to find satisfaction: The sign at 1018 East 11th Avenue still reads Pizza Vera, which was the name of the business that was there when Cayvan Khalatbari bought the place. “Well, I…
Red Trolley is picking up speed. When it opened in June, this neighborhood spot at 2639 West 32nd Avenue started by serving coffee, ice cream and gelato, then expanded to lunch (see my Veggie Girl for an example of one recent special). And as of today, Red Trolley is also…
Red Trolley, at 2639 West 32nd Avenue, serves amazing gelato and ice cream, including vegan sorbettos and a truly decadent vegan chocolate ice cream — but there are plenty of other reasons to stop by this new spot in Highland. Red Trolley also supports local farmers and growers, and its…
Once again, I find myself wishing I were a big fat man, one of those renowned, infamous gastronomes of old. I wish I were James Beard, who could put away a dozen oysters, a pound of Gulf shrimp, a whole chicken and maybe a few of its eggs, scrambled, as…
It all starts with a graying Latino gentleman wearing a jean jacket and a straw cowboy hat being told he can’t have a beer. “I’ll give you a bottle of water or a Coke, sir,” the bartender pronounces, “but I can’t serve you another alcoholic beverage tonight.” Poor bastard, we’re…
I’d heard about Snooze long before it opened and was excited about the place, juiced to have a hip, eclectic, chef-driven breakfast joint in the Ballpark neighborhood. And then I finally got there in July 2006 and found the staff rude, the food uninspired and the vibe operating at such…
Following service Saturday, Mel’s Bistro at 1120 East Sixth Avenue went dark. After lots of back-and-forth and sniffing around by some of Denver’s best-known chefs, Mel Master finally signed a deal to sell the last restaurant in the Master family empire to Steve Mursuli. He’ll turn it into a Cuban…
Of the fifteen spaces honored in the 2008 Mayor’s Design Awards, several honorees are particularly delicious, because the buildings look just as good as the food created inside them. “Great cities are just as enriched by many discrete and beautifully designed projects as they are by large and bold civic…
Jared Boller has a whole lotta shaking going on. When I first talked to Jared Boller for Bite Metwo weeks ago, it was because he was one of the multitude unexpectedly let go by Jim Sullivan during the synchronized closures of Nine75 and Ocean. Then the head bartender at Ocean,…
East Moon Asian Bistro opens its doors tomorrow at 10431 Town Center in Westminster. It’s a new restaurant, but its owners are veterans in the business — they also have East Moon locations in Fort Collins and Longmont (and two related East Moons back East). And depending on who you…
I was too hungry to take a picture. Denver Ted’s 1308 Pearl Street 303-830-9089 Regular cheesesteak: steak, American cheese, onions, bread $6 for a nine-inch sandwich It’s not fair to expound on the merits of a sandwich I’ve eaten after letting myself become so ravenously hungry that I can barely…
“It’s made from corn. It doesn’t have artificial ingredients. Like sugar, it’s fine in moderation.” This from a new TV ad campaign extolling the virtues and relative safety of high-fructose corn syrup. One can only presume that members of the Lard Council must be licking their fatty chops in anticipation…
With Sheila Lucero in the kitchen, a meal at Jax goes swimmingly. Once again, I find myself wishing I were a big fat man, one of those renowned, infamous gastronomes of old. I wish I were James Beard, who could put away a dozen oysters, a pound of Gulf shrimp,…
When The Real World: Denver production crew took over the former home of B-52 Billiards, at 1920 Blake Street, they turned it into some pretty swank digs. And in November 2006, before the MTV show had even finished its run, Shane Alexander and Josh Hawkinson bought the building and remodeled…
When Brix opened at 3000 East Third Avenue a few years ago, it gave Cherry Creek an unexpected, hip hot spot. But then the partners behind Brix split (read more about it in this week’s Bite Me), and earlier this year the space became Barron’s Bar & Bistro. But Barron’s…
The variety of dining options near the hip Highland intersection of 32nd and Lowell recently got a little more diverse. Ben Ke opened Highlands Asian Grill about three months ago, at 3940 West 32nd Avenue. In addition to a stellar-looking variety of Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese and Japanese options, the menu…
It was always a desperation drink, what you grabbed when you just couldn’t look at another beer, something you could pretend was a gin-and-tonic in a bottle if you used enough limes. Coors Brewing Company, then the nation’s number-three brewer, devoted one and a half years–and a reported $3.5 million–to…
The First Avenue Hotel in 1917. Denver restaurateur Jesse Morreale (Mezcal, Tambien, La Rumba, Rockbar) recently announced he was taking the next step in building the nascent hotel empire that started with the All-Inn at 3015 East Colfax Avenue by purchasing the historic/empty/decrepit 1st Avenue Hotel building at 101 Broadway…
High School Musical cereal Kellogg’s Rating: Two spoons out of four Cereal description: Round-cornered corn-and-oat stars evenly split between a robust yellowish-brown and a ripe red — and all of them are speckled with white sugar pustules seemingly ready to erupt with sweetness. It’s a look that raises expectations soon…
Chef Frank Bonanno. I think we all knew that it was only a matter of time before Sparrow Market Café (701 Grant Street) tanked, since Sparrow restaurant had already flown the coop. And guess who’s picked up the space? Frank Bonanno, who already owns the restaurants on either side of…
Morreale is feeling confident after his makeover of RockBar at the All-Inn. Remember a couple years back when Jesse Morreale, out for one of his morning constitutionals, just up and decided he was going to buy the aging transient hotel at 3105 East Colfax, so he walked into the All-Inn…
