The Ten Best Pizzas in Denver — 2016 Edition

The questions of which state or city makes the best pizza, where to get the most authentic slice, and whose pie sings above the rest will always be hot topics. After all, pizza is a very personal choice that takes into account crust preferences, favorite sauces and, of course, preferred…

Stay in Your PJs and Win Free Coffee for a Year at Illy Caffé Today

Don’t waste time getting dressed this morning! Illy, which currently serves up coffee in more than 140 countries, will open the first free-standing illy Caffé in Colorado inside the Renaissance Denver Downtown City Center Hotel, and to celebrate the grand opening, illy will be offering complimentary drip coffee all day today…

Eleven of the Most Desirable Vacant Restaurant Spaces in Denver

In the cyclical, cutthroat restaurant world, eateries both stellar and sub-par come and go for reasons that seem almost entirely unrelated to the food served. The time-worn phrase “location, location, location!” seems to hold at least a grain of truth as critical favorites shut their doors while less deserving establishments…

Reader: Everybody Wins When a Chain Concept Closes

More people seem to be commenting on the disappearance of Wurstküche from 2036 Broadway than ever ate there. Many of the comments focus on the gall of a California concept coming to peddle sausages in Colorado — when so many other places do it well here, including Biker Jim’s and Uber…

Three Upcoming Benefit Dinners Feature Top Denver Chefs

Denver chefs are donating their time and skills for good causes at several upcoming events. On Sunday, January 24, the Squeaky Bean (at 1500 Wynkoop Street) is hosting the third annual Dining Out for Earth to benefit Rock the Earth, an organization dedicated to protecting natural resources. This year’s dinner…

Four Cleanses to Help You With Your Juicy New Year’s Resolution

Juice cleanses were once fad diets where practitioners sipped nothing but lemonade spiked with cayenne pepper  but have evolved into sophisticated blends of raw fruits and veggie juices designed to detox your overworked organs. Not to be mistaken for meal replacements or protein shakes, juice cleansing is a love-it-or-hate-it kind…

First Look: Cherry Hills Sushi Co. Opens Today

Cherry Hills Village will get a rare new restaurant when Cherry Hills Sushi Co. opens at 11 a.m. today in a shopping center at the corner of Hampden Avenue and South Lafayette Street. The minimalist eatery is the project of chef Bradford Kim and his wife, Olivia Maeng; they’re focusing…

Reader: Sputnik Is a Hipster Haven at Brunch in Denver

Brunch could be Denver’s favorite meal — for suburban families and urban hipsters alike. Lauren Monitz recently tried what could be Cherry Creek’s hippest brunch, at Harman’s Eat & Drink. But her description of that meal prompted a reader to point out that brunch does not have to be hip. Still,…

Buggin’ Out: A Second Helping of Westword Food & Drink, January 11-15

This week’s food adventures included a slippery, savory stew from Akwaba Restaurant in Aurora’s Afrikmall; cricket tacos at Linger; and Spanish Morcilla sausage, which can be found at a number of Denver-area restaurants and markets. But burgers and sausages were off the menu — at least temporarily — as sausage griller…

Linger Introduces Cricket Tacos to Dinner Menu

Use the phrase “alternative protein” and most people think turkey instead of chicken. But at Edible Beats, the group that operates Linger, Root Down, Ophelia’s Electric Soapbox and the soon-to-open Vital Root (on Tennyson Street), the culinary team has been introducing yak, ostrich, goat, tempeh and other sources outside the…

Oskar Blues Lends a Can to the Flint Water Crisis

The philanthropic Oskar Blues did not waste a minute lending a hand to Flint. It’s sending canned water to the Michigan town through its non-profit CAN’d Aid, which is using the brewery’s North Carolina Brewery and cans from Colorado’s Ball Corporation.  Here’s the Flint water crisis in one hard-to-swallow serving:…

Reader: Never Thought a Brewery Would Close — We Need the Hydration!

Independent outfits, including craft-beer breweries, are popping up in the suburbs. Arvada will soon get its own Steuben’s — but it just lost the four-year-old Arvada Beer Company in Olde Town.  Why? Says Hallie:  Rent is at a premium in Olde Town…and there are too many similar restaurants and not much parking, which…