Denver Diner Celebrates Grand Reopening Today

If you considered yourself a Denver Diner regular, then it feels like forever since the 24-hour greasy spoon suddenly closed its doors after a kitchen fire. In reality, it’s been just under a year since the popular diner at 740 West Colfax Avenue, a classic ’60s-era White Spot that was…

Photos: Beer and Food Pairings at the Great American Beer Festival

The Great American Beer Festival highlights chefs as well as brewers with its Paired pavilion, which matches food and beer from around the country. The pairings are coordinated by Brewers Association executive chef Adam Dulye. This year, six Colorado breweries and twelve Colorado chefs were part of the mix. Each…

The Great American Beer Festival Gets Bigger, Bolder, Better

I’ve been lucky enough to attend the Great American Beer Festival for the past nine years in a row. Over that time, I’ve watched it grow bigger and I’ve watched the beers get better. I’ve also watched the traditional opening notes from the bagpipe-and-drum corps during most of those years,…

This West Colfax Coffee Cart Is Strong, Smart and Bold

There aren’t many options for a good cup of coffee along the West Colfax Avenue corridor. The Strong, Smart & Bold Beans coffee cart nestled inside the Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales library is changing that. The cart, a social enterprise of Girls Inc. of Metro Denver, is serving up good coffee for…

Tom+Chee Brings Childhood Comfort Combo to Streets of Southglenn

Not so long ago, there was a kiosk at Streets of Southglenn called Yo’Cheese that sold grilled cheese sandwiches and other comfort-food classics. In the winter, there was an outdoor ice-skating rink next to the kiosk where scarved and mittened teenagers made turns around the rink before fueling up on…

From Brunch to Beer, 21 Tastiest Events on the Culinary Calendar

The Great American Beer Festival is in full swing and Denver is buzzing with brews this weekend. While suds are spilling all over town, the culinary calendar has some worthwhile non-beer events, too. Keep reading for a taste. Friday, September 25  Chef Troy Guard will be cooking up a four-course…

Homebrewers Lead the Way With Pot-Infused Beers

Colorado is one of the leading craft-beer states. It was also the first state to allow recreational marijuana. So it would only seem natural that the two industries would cross paths at one of the 300-plus breweries here. But so far, we haven’t seen any commercial pot-infused beers — and…

Vesta Dipping Grill’s Happy Hour Is a Slam Dunk

There’s nothing like a first-date dinner. You probably picked a place with dim lighting, something that looked good on Yelp, with food that leans toward the sensual but doesn’t belie any unsavory intentions. You might choose a place like Vesta Dipping Grill, which not coincidentally has been a regular Best…

Crowdfunding Could Buoy Two New Colorado Restaurants

Finding funding to open a restaurant used to be a simple matter. Either you’d write up a business plan and account for every penny to be earned and spent and head to the bank hoping for a sympathetic loan officer, or you’d rustle up a few of your richest acquaintances…

Reader: BBQ Is One of the Only Things Colorado Did Not Get Right

Barbecue and beer: Everyone has opinions about those. But while people uniformly praise Colorado craft beers, opinions of this state’s barbecue offerings are much more mixed. Last week we served up our updated list of the Ten Best Barbecue Joints in Denver, which includes Brewshine — a place that happens…

What Happened to the Rules for Restaurant Reviewers?

For years, there were hard-and-fast rules about restaurant criticism. Critics shall remain anonymous. Critics shall not accept free food. Critics shall eat more than one meal before forming an opinion, and won’t have said meals until the restaurant has been open long enough to work out the kinks. The Internet…

Maria Empanada to Appear on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives This Friday

Earlier this year, Food Network host Guy Fieri rolled into town in his red Camaro convertible and dug into meals at several of our favorite Denver eateries. One of those was Lorena Cantarovici’s Argentinian cafe, Maria Empanada, on South Broadway. The cozy bakery will be featured this Friday, September 25,…

Beer: It’s What’s for Breakfast Today!

From brunch to breakfast at midnight, beer is seeping into every nook and cranny of Denver, as the Great American Beer Festival pours into town. There will be an astronomical quantity of beer inside the Convention Center today; here’s a taste of two events happening outside the festival. Whether you…

Photos: Coohills Hosts A Taste of Iceland for Four Nights

Iceland Naturally is once again bringing a Taste of Iceland — a culinary and cultural plunge into the chilly Nordic country — to Denver. This year, the food and cocktails are again being presented at Coohills. Ylfa Helgadóttir, owner and chef de cuisine of Kopar in Reykjavik, is presenting four-…