Food & Drink

If I had an archway in my house, this is exactly what I would do with it, taking breaks only to drink the beers from this brewery and taproom that pours some of the best suds in the state. Can you guess where I’m drinking? Special bonus: Anyone who gives…

Johnny’s Diner had a long run in Aurora, but when a recent fire department inspection determined that the place needed a new fire suppression hood over the grill — a $3,000 repair — that was enough to convince the owner to decide to get out of the diner business altogether,…

Summer is a great time for burgers, and Smashburger, the homegrown chain that started in Denver in 2007 and now spans the country, recently opened two more stores in the area: at 965 South Hover Street in Longmont and 8100 West Crestline Avenue in Littleton. That makes a total of…

Fair food — fried, salty, sugary — took center stage at the Denver County Fair over the weekend, whether attendees were biting into big corn dogs or showing off their potentially prize-winning pies. The fair fare was the perfect complement to the quirky event, and Westword’s Brandon Marshall was at…

Last month, when I interviewed La Sandia chef Sergio Romo for my weekly chef and tell interview, he didn’t mince words when I prodded him about what defines Mexican cuisine: “People think of Mexican food as heavy and laden with calories, but that’s the Americanized version. Real Mexican food uses…

Westword restaurant critic Gretchen Kurtz may have seen the writing on the wall when she reviewed Cafe Berlin in October of last year. “If ever a place were in need of intervention by Restaurant: Impossible, this is it,” declared Kurtz. “At dinner the place can be so empty — as…

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with rice noodles in pad Thai — we love them — but sometimes you want something a little bit different. Spaghetti squash definitely fits that bill, and also hooks you up with an extra serving of vegetables. You can’t lose! See also: – Vegan pad Thai…

A sojourn to an Ethiopian restaurant is never a quick dinner, and at this Ethiopian restaurant, the service is notoriously slow-moving, but that’s because it’s a one-woman show, and what emerges from that woman’s kitchen is absolutely worth the wait. Patience: It’s a virtue. Can you guess where I’m eating?…

From the moment that Mary and Lisa Rogers opened Common Grounds in 1992, the coffeehouse at 3484 West 32nd Avenue was a neighborhood gathering place — even if the Highland neighborhood was far from the hot spot it is today. Today the area is so hot, in fact, that the…

Cafe Society served up five Guess Where? contests last week, ranging from a fleet of fantastic beers from River North Brewery to a bowl of chili from the newly reopened Hawt Dog & Sausage Eatery to a burrito smothered with green chile from an iconic Mexican institution…

You’ll have to get your bacon and eggs elsewhere this morning: Johnny’s Diner has closed in Aurora. During a recent Aurora Fire Department inspection, the owner of the decades-old joint was told he needed to replace the fire suppression hood over the grill — a $3,000 repair. That was enough,…

When Trader Joe’s revealed that it would finally open a store in — one of three now slated to open in the metro area in 2014 — neighbors of the future TJ’s site at East Eighth Avenue and Colorado Boulevard rejoiced. They were not nearly as excited when they heard…

This week, Gretchen Kurtz went from nose to tail at Beast + Bottle, where brother-sister duo Paul and Aileen Reilly are becoming the talk of the town. And Mark Antonation brightened up a blurry Tuesday evening at T-Wa Inn; while exec chef Colin Mallet took a sec from extinguishing fires…

Suffice it to say that I eat out more than the general population, unless, of course, the general population can catalogue more than 450 restaurant meals in a year — which is about the number of breakfasts, lunches and dinners that I stomached in 2012. Pathetic, isn’t it? But all…

The legendary Dunkin’ Donuts chain is finally rolling into Colorado, with a dozen stores slated to open in the state by 2018. And this September, a Dunkin’ Donuts store will rise in the heart of Denver, at 470 Broadway. The franchise owners for that location will be conducting a job…

Native Foods Cafe, the fast-casual meatless (read: vegan) joint that proffers soy- and wheat-based meat substitutes (tempeh and seitan, for example) in lieu of dead animals, boasts more than fourteen stores in California, Chicago, Portland and Boulder — and now Denverites who embrace the ever-growing spread of the vegan movement…

Pho Real is set to open at 2399 West Main Street in Littleton, in the space that was previously home to Tres Jolie, which shuttered last summer, after winning Best Ladies Lunch in our 2012 Best of Denver issue. According to employees, Pho Real should be open for business within…