Food & Drink

Lakewood mayor Bob Murphy stood in front of Lasley Elementary students today and talked about how the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff view obesity as a national security issue, since 27 percent of all applicants for the armed forces are too obese to serve. The rest of the festivities were…

Did you miss last call at Pete’s Monkey Bar? The Dead-centric spot at 717 East Colfax Avenue had “a fucking awesome run,” according to owner Pete Penzastadler, and closed after one final bash last night. Westword photographer Nick Callaio was there; see the complete slide show here…

Before I left for the airport a week and a half ago, I parked my car in an empty lot in LoHi that I’ve been using since I moved to the neighborhood. It was one of the last reliable caches of parking in the area, although in recent months it’s…

This, declares Gary Lee Bomar, standing behind the bar of his new, eponymous Motor Club & Grub, has “always been my dream.” A dream, he continues, that’s finally come to fruition after more than a year of blood, sweat and tears. “It’s been a year-and-a-half process putting this together, and…

In baseball terms, that’s a hot dog with the bases fully loaded. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Guess Where posts is entered into a pool — and every Monday, we select one lucky winner who’ll receive an…

Although Russo’s, the spot next door, closed last month, Street Kitchen Asian Bistro has managed to capture a decent-sized lunch crowd in this strip of restaurants that sits, like an oasis, amid chains and office complexes. (Marco’s Coal-Fired Pizzeria is another Street Kitchen neighbor.) The Street Kitchen menu draws from…

After months of delays, both Adrift and Gary Lee’s Motor Club & Grub opened last month on the same strip of South Broadway. But from new pizza joints to mo’ pho, there’s action all over town. Here’s our restaurant roll call for April:…

After reviewing Hana Japanese Bistro, Laura Shunk served up her list of “Denver’s five best Japanese restaurants,” places that serve not just sushi, but excellent, authentic dishes from Japan’s much broader culinary canon. The list inspired the usual quibbles — why is this on it? why not that? — as…

Free falafel is a fine way to make friends. Alon Mor, the founder of Garbanzo Mediterranean Grill, makes sure that customers are handed deep-fried spiced garbanzo-bean fritters as soon as they walk in the door of one of his restaurants. He also has a “just ask” policy that allows them…

It’s been nearly two years since the Samba Room, a Cuban restaurant chain based in Dallas, closed in Larimer Square, following a major water leak that dripped…and dripped into the Comedy Works space below. The chain’s parent company, E-Brands Restaurants, eventually filed for bankruptcy last year, leaving the two-level Larimer…

After two-and-half years, Pete Penzastadler is closing Pete’s Monkey Bar tonight with one last blowout. Penzastadler, who calls it “a fucking awesome run,” is closing the spot because he just needs to move on, he says…

From northwest Denver, with love. Chubby’s has made the New York Times — and not surprisingly, it’s thanks to Gustavo Arellano, author of the weekly column Ask a Mexican as well as the new book Taco USA. In that scholarly tome, which traces the rise of Mexican food in the…

It’s not quite the Bamboo Hut, the legendary former tenant at 2449 Larimer Street, but an occupant has signed on for the address that once held one of the town’s best Mexican (yes, Mexican) restaurants: Amerigo Delicatus Restaurant & Market is going into the spot…

If you’ve been following this blog, then you’ve no doubt read about the endless parade of pizza joints that are sweeping across the Denver landscape: Toppings started slinging pies in LoDo last Friday; Right Coast Pizza began tossing dough two weeks ago in Wheat Ridge; and Fired Up will open…

A few weeks ago, when I was in L.A., I spent some time in Koreatown, where I pigged out on some amazing Korean barbecue and banchan — a parade of more than 25 at one restaurant. There are several Korean barbecue joints here, too, including the restaurant where the above…

No one’s saying you have to go meatless just because it’s Monday — but as incentive to join the growing movement, every week we’re offering an animal-free recipe. This is a fast, easy substitute for tuna salad that requires no cooking and harms no fish. We served it up on…

Cafe Society dished up five Guess Where contests last week, including two stumpers: a still-unidentified pizza that is definitely not from Pizzeria Basta and an anemic Reuben that reinforces our plea for better sandwiches in the Mile High City. It didn’t take long, however, to identify Cafe Terracotta as the…

When Gary Lee Bomar, a veteran of the Denver restaurant industry, took over a dilapidated garage on South Broadway almost a year ago, he planned to refurbish the space and build a bar and restaurant with a menu full of smoked meats and cheeses. And while his remodel was always…