At Jax Fish House, dropping a line for some Leinie’s

A favorite bar band of mine from the Midwest sings an audience-participation song about Leinenkugel’s beer that has just four lines: “I like my Leinenkugel’s beer (Woo-hoo!)/So does everybody here (Woo-hoo!)/If you don’t like it, you’re kind of queer (Woo-hoo!)/I like my Leinenkugel’s beer (Woo-hoo!).” I’m typically so drunk by…

Subway Tavern & Pizzeria: home of the Dago Dog

I don’t get it. I hear people talk about this place, and they call it a dive. I see people write about it online, and they say they wouldn’t think of coming here because of the rattletrap exterior, the dimness of the windows. But the outside of this joint is…

Wolfie’s Bites the Dust

Say so long to Wolfie’s Neighborhood Bistro, which never had a chance to grow long in the tooth. For a relatively brief time, it occupied the space at 1135 Bannock Street that had been home to Bambino’s, an Italian joint that many people remember fondly. Not so Wolfie’s. There’s a…

I’ll Be Seeing You — But Not at Isle of Singapore

Another day, another dolour. We just learned that Isle of Singapore, which Jason Sheehan loved when he first reviewedit in 2002 (when the photo above was taken), and fell in love with again just last year, has floated away from its home at 2022 South University. In its place: Jason’s…

Miller, Coors, Bud are Aleing

My heart goes out to multi-billion-dollar brewing giants MillerCoors (which recently completed its merger) and Anheuser-Busch (which is about to be taken over by Belgium’s InBev). No, really, it’s hard to look small when you are that big. Not that it has kept the beer companies from trying. The Coors…

North Star Has Gone South

Sad news in northwest Denver. On July 31, North Star Brewing Company, the restaurant, bar and microbrewery at 3200 Tejon Street, pulled its last pint. As of Friday morning, Kyle Carstens’s beer-and-tater-tot joint was dark, the shades pulled on all the windows, the neon off. I’d called the place twice…

A Trip to Brooklyn — Via Brooklyn M.C.’s Pizzeria

This spot sets itself up as one of those straight-outta-the-boroughs New York pizza joints the minute you walk through the door, and even before that, the minute you hear the name: Brooklyn M.C.’s Pizzeria. Like a fat kid picked on his whole life, suddenly coming back, junior year of high…

Mile High Hopes for Vienna Beef

When I first noticed the sign for Mile High Vienna Beef, painted on the red-brick side of a storefront at Third and Santa Fe, I almost inadvertently steered my car into the building. My love of Vienna Beef is storied and strong, and the notion of a purveyor of such…

Benny’s Opens New Patio

Tucked into a booth at Benny’s Restaurante y Tequila Bar, we were a couple of beers into our late brunch Saturday when we spotted Benny Armas, whose namesake restaurant has become such an integral part of Denver’s dining scene. Benny’s recently opened a new patio on the Grant Street side…

Coming Soon: Blake Street Vault

We miss American Costume Company, our go-to spot for all our party and costume needs until the longtime LoDo business closed its doors last year. But we’re optimistic about what’s happening to its former home. After many, many months of renovation, it looks like the Blake Street Vault will be…

Not Quite a Full Moon Time

Two weeks ago, we made the sad discovery on a sweltering Monday that Moon Time, Westword’s regular watering hole at 846 Broadway, was closed — reportedly for HVAC work. And the job must not be going too well, because a sign still on the door today notes that Moon Time…

Milking It: Cocoa Krispies Choconilla

Cocoa Krispies Choconilla Kellogg’s Rating: Two and a half spoons out of four Cereal description: Puffed rice kernels — half of them a deep brown, the rest a light tan color. The latter are identical in hue to standard Rice Krispies, which aren’t vanilla-flavored. So what gives? Couldn’t spring for…

Week Five in Hell’s Kitchen: Ballroom Blitz

Jason Sheehan is no fan of Hell’s Kitchen, but he watches it. And now he’s playing it, as he describes here. Now on to the final week: Here’s a sampling of my old kitchen playlists. Bear in mind that my time on the line is now far enough in the…

Candy Girls: Limited Edition Wild Cherry M&M’s

We found this mysterious pack of Wild Cherry M&M’s tucked away in the wrong box at our local Walgreens. There didn’t seem to be a display of them, and a search for like packages proved fruitless. We also haven’t run across them in any other stores, leaving us wondering about…

A Toast to French Restaurants

Brasserie Felix just opened at 3901 Tennyson Street, and it’s exactly what owners owners Danielle Diller and Gilles Fabre promised: a solidly 2/3 brasserie, offering two meals a day plus brunches on the weekends. That’s just the latest French place ot open. Over at 375 South Pearl Street, Café Etoile…

I Drink, Therefore I Am….Pissed Off

We card under 40. Did you hear about Washington governor Chris Gregoire? She and her staff went to a bar in downtown Olympia called Hannah’s, and the man checking the door said that the 61-year-old couldn’t get in without an ID. Even after Gregoire’s staff told the bouncer that she…

Potato Shortage? Let the Chips Fall Where They May

Like everyone else in the world, I am a big fan of potato chips – particularly Lay’s, especially since they started doing all their chips in non-trans-fat sunflower oil, which gives them a kind of smoothly nutty flavor that I find completely addictive. This week, when I went to my…

Into the Drink With Stranahan’s and Oskar Blues

I didn’t technically jump into a swimming pool full of whiskey Wednesday afternoon, although I drank from one – and my head hurts almost as much as if I had cannonballed off the diving board. No, what I did was attend a little party thrown by Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey (2405…

Kabobs and a Pizza the Action on Larimer Street

Three things to enjoy on a hot summer night at Marco’s Coal-Fired Pizza on Larimer Street: The excellent, thin-crust pizza, the very powerful air-conditioning, and a good view of the incredible changes on this 2100 block of what was once Denver’s skid row. Sure, there are still pawn shops, but…

D Bar Desserts

The first time I saw Keegan Gerhard, it was on TV. That was also the second place I saw him. And the tenth, fiftieth and hundredth. Given Gerhard’s ubiquitous star status, there was a time — like, right up until last week, maybe — when a man (like me) could’ve…

D for Denver

Last week, after I’d finished my review of D Bar, I called chef-owner Keegan Gerhard to ask the Food Network star a few questions. First and foremost: How the hell did he end up in Denver? “That’s funny,” he replied. “That’s a result of a few things, really.” And then…

Lucky Strike Lanes

No OGs, new Gs or dirtballs allowed. No sluts, sports fanatics or dudes who love the sight of their own pectorals. Definitely no one coming straight from the gym. You clowns are not welcome at Lucky Strike Lanes (500 16th Street), at least not according to the dress code —…