Food & Drink

And then there were none. Ten years ago, Big Papa’s BBQ — a homegrown chain — was smoking, with several metro locations in south Denver and the nearby suburbs. But over the years, they closed up…and now the final Big Papa’s, at 6265 East Evans Avenue, is gone, too. But…

Cafe Society dished up four Guess Where? contest posts last week, ranging from a vegan cheese plate that was consumed at Nectar House to venison ragu punctuated with spring vegetables from Vesta Dipping Grill to a Vietnamese crêpe hugging fried duck meatballs, a dish that hails from the kitchen of…

A year ago the owners of Stoney’s Bar & Grill at 1111 Lincoln Street took on the space at 1434 Blake Street that has been many, many things over the years — starting with City Spirit and, most recently, Full Steam Tavern — and named it Stoney’s Full Steam Tavern…

It take balls to swallow a twelve-inch doughnut iced with the words “Don’t be cocky.” Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to a Guess Where post — on the Cafe Society blog, not on Facebook — is entered into the contest…

The weather will be great today, making this an ideal day to enjoy a burger on an outdoor patio — maybe a green chile cheeseburger, in honor of Cinco de Mayo. But don’t head to theFive Star Burgers at Sixth and Broadway. That link in a small, New-Mexico based chain…

“Prost!” It’s the German form of “Cheers!” A way to celebrate your drinking companions. But Prost Brewing and Frisco’s Prost Fine Beer and Sausages, which plans to open a Denver outlet this month, may not be toasting each other with much gusto. That’s because there’s sure to be some confusion…

This week in Cafe Society, Gretchen Kurtz reviewed a restaurant just featured on Kitchen Nightmares, Pantaleone’s, and discovered that Gordon Ramsay’s wake-up call had done some good. For Chef and Tell, Lori Midson talked with Chris Canales, exec chef of Volta Mediterranean Restaurant in Boulder, about what it takes to…

Last week, we told you about Los Chingones’s wild and wacky Wednesday taco — a taco that chef de cuisine Lou Ortiz says is centered around the “weirdest shit we can get.” He did a camel meat taco last Wednesday, and on Wednesday of this week, he rolled out the…

Tomorrow is chock-full of extracurricular culinary diversions, including a swell of Kentucky Derby parties, one of which — the Bar Car soiree — even includes a pizza-eating contest, but Saturday’s biggest stage for eating and drinking is at the Source, where you’ll find popups aplenty, not to mention a tap…

It’s the “frenzy experienced by our raving fans who desire to have our dishes daily. Some even dine at our restaurants two to three times a day. Now that’s madness and we love it!” That’s the mantra of Teriyaki Madness, a Las Vegas-based chain that recently opened its first Denver…

A half-dozen years ago, there was a race to see which restaurateur would open the first hip noodle bar in the area. Frank Bonanno won when he opened Bones at the very end of 2008; soon after, Dave Query’s Big Red F group debuted Happy Noodle Houseat 835 Walnut Street…

A recent dinner at this long-standing neighborhood restaurant revealed a new menu full of vibrant dishes, including a Vietnamese-inspired, vegetable slaw-crowned rice crepe hugging fried duck meatballs. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to a Guess Where post — on the…

Pepper Asian Bistro has opened at 2831 East Colfax Avenue, in the former home of China Star. Owner Shi Bing Ke has given the space a facelift, and also introduced a smart menu that reflects the restaurant’s connection with Shiso Sushi in Edgewater. The spicy edamame is already getting rave…

The Five Star Burgers at 555 Broadway had a lot going for it, even on the restaurant-heavy corner of Sixth and Broadway. The green chile on that big, fat cheeseburger featured real Hatch chiles. If that and the hand-cut fries didn’t fill you up, you could order deep-fried banana bread…

Last summer Kitchen Nightmares came to metro Denver, and chef/host Gordon Ramsay gave makeovers to three long-time Colorado restaurants: The Old Neighborhood in Arvada, Mangia Mangia in Woodlawn Park and Pantaleone’s New York Pizza. Before she caught last month’s episode featuring Pantaleone’s, Gretchen Kurtz visited the Fafalios family’s almost-thirty-year-old pizzeria…

Park Hill is becoming less and less of a food desert these days. Last week Gretchen Kurtz saluted the Abbey Tavern, which turned a former florist shop on East Colfax into a neighborhood hangout, and yesterday chef/owner Jon Robbins, founder of Gypsy Kitchen, opened Bistro Barbès at 5021 East 28th…

Pete Fafalios of Pantaleone’s, which I review this week, isn’t the town’s only pizza-maker who’s been in the business a long time. Luke Loukopoulos, owner of Papou’s Pizzeria, has been slinging dough as long as he can remember. “I grew up making it back east,” says Loukopoulos, who learned to…

Red Robin has been getting schooled on how tough it can be to create a spin-off of a successful concept. The Red Robin’s Burger Works that opened in September 2012 on the Auraria Campus — then the sole restaurant option in the new, $45 million Hotel and Hospitality Learning Center,…

It’s been fourteen years since Matt Matros graduated from college, and he still has the “fat kid” graduation photo that encouraged him to kick the junk food to the curb. “I was heavy — 210 pounds heavy — when I graduated from college, and I remember looking at my graduation…