Next Wednesday, April 3, Denver will be raining small-batch spirits: vodka, whiskey, gin, bourbon, brandy, grapa, absinthe and more at DStill’s American Craft Spirit & Cocktail Showcase, which runs from 6 to 10 p.m. and takes place at the McNichols Building at 144 West Colfax. There are 44 distilleries participating…
Denverites love their barbecue — even if great barbecue can be tough to find in this city. Boney’s, which won our Best BBQ in the Best of Denver 2013, used to have a cart at Writer’s Square, but closed that in order to focus on its newly expanded restaurant on…
It’s a good thing that the tom yum goong, a tart and spicy Thai seafood soup, was on the money, because the service — stoic and uncomfortably unfriendly — definitely wasn’t, and nor was the chalky panang curry, ordered “Thai hot” and arriving inexplicably milder than the pot of rice…
Fast-casual restaurants are taking over the world, one burrito, burger and bowl of pasta at a time, offering customers the convenience of quick-service joints and some of the atmosphere and ingredient quality of sit-down places. And given Colorado’s casual lifestyle and entrepreneurial spirit, it’s not surprising that this state has…
The Best of Denver 2013 is out, with more than a hundred categories in our Food & Drink section. One of the most hotly contested categories is always Best Green Chile. This year, the readers voted for El Taco de Mexico, a many-time winner. Cafe Society’s pick for Best Green…
The Fancy Plants Vegan Prom takes place tomorrow night at the Mercury Cafe, 2199 California Street. Marilyn Megenity’s club that was awarded our Best Free Entertainment award in the Best of Denver 2013. The prom, which starts at 8 p.m., isn’t free, but it will raise funds for Peaceful Prairie…
There are time-honored traditions that define a good whiskey, from the type of grain used in the mix to the type of barrel in which it’s aged. But Lenny Eckstein, owner and head distiller of Deerhammer Distilling Company in Buena Vista, is not afraid to mix tradition with new practices…
Just over a month ago, Jeff Bauman and his brother Marc shuttered Pig & Block Charcuterie, their butcher shop at 3326 Tejon Street, in LoHi. “We were given a really decent offer to sell, and while things had been going very, very well for us — we were even preparing…
Earlier this week, three Colorado chefs — Elise Wiggins (Panzano), Daniel Asher (Root Down and Linger) and Riley Romanin (Hooked in Beaver Creek) — convened in the kitchen of Metropolitan State University Hospitality Learning Center to vie for an opportunity to cook at the Taste of Derby competition at the…
I had low expectations for the margarita at this new Mexican restaurant. But while it didn’t make me howl with glee, it was far from the worst marg I’ve had. With any luck, this restaurant will stick around longer than the space’s last tenant — and I’ll be able to…
Paul Schutt, former chef at Work Options for Women, just opened Tin Star Smokehouse in the space vacated by Chia’s Breakfast & Lunch Counter at 16400 South Golden Road in Golden. Not coincidentally, Paul’s brother, Andrew Schutt, owns Tin Star Cafe & Donut House in Evergreen — another barbecue joint…
I have yet to find my go-to Chinese restaurant, chain or otherwise, in Denver. And that’s not from lack of trying. I have favorite Japanese/sushi, Vietnamese and Thai spots all over town, but the best I have scrounged up for moderately priced, decent Chinese is effin’ Panda Express. And, yes,…
Grand Lux Cafe closed in Park Meadows last week. According to the Park Meadows website, the mall (inside or out) still has Brio Tuscan Grille, California Pizza Kitchen, Champps, Cru – a Wine Bar, Earl’s, La Sandia, P.F. Chang’s, Red Robin, Thai Basil, White Chocolate Grill and two restaurant/pubs in…
TAG|RAW Bar, 1430 Larimer Street, was awarded Best Chef’s Counter in our 2013 Best of Denver, which hit the streets yesterday, and tonight is a perfect opportunity to see for yourself why it won. Every last Thursday of the month, this underground restaurant in Larimer Square offers a special four-course…
Announcement: We have a winner of our Jax Fish House High West Oyster Fest contest. Congrats to kayodo, who guessed 10,887 oysters. The correct number is 11,932. (Sorry, CRGWKM, but as I said, if you don’t leave an e-mail address, you can’t win.) Kayodo, we’ll send you can e-mail about…
The Best of Denver 2013 has hit the streets, and once again, LoHi is our Best Restaurant Neighborhood. At the end of 2012, the LoHi Merchant Group did a count of all the eateries in the area and came up with over fifty — more than double the count from…
Craft beers are not Colorado’s only liquid assets. This state’s craft-spirit industry is booming, too. Two years ago, when the Colorado Bartenders Guild, the Colorado Distillers Guild, Westword and the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver banded together on the Colorado Cocktail Project, the Distillers Guild had fewer than twenty members…
We’ve spent a lot of time in bars since the first Best of Denver issue made its debut in 1984, and sometimes we even remembered to give awards to those bars. One of our most popular categories? Best New Bar, snagged this year by Ace. Some years we didn’t make…
In just a few short hours, the Best of Denver 2013 will start hitting the street — and the web. This year’s edition is packed with more than 400 winners (we’re still counting). One of the most anticipated categories in our Food & Drink section is also one of the…
In case you haven’t heard, Westword’s Best of Denver issue hits the streets later this afternoon, and somewhere within the confines of the newsprint is a big shout-out to the chef whose lamb chops are depicted in the above photo. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who…
Colorado’s craft brewers are constantly coming up with new beers, so many that it can be hard to keep up. Some are permanent additions to their lineups, while others are seasonal specialties that arrive for just a few weeks or months each year. Still more are small-batch releases that come…
In A Federal Case, I’ll be eating my way up Federal Boulevard – south to north – within Denver city limits. I’ll be skipping the national chains and per-scoop Chinese joints, but otherwise I’ll report from every vinyl booth, walk-up window and bar stool where food is served. Here’s the…
