Max’s Wine Dive pulls off the admirable trick of being a chain restaurant without acting or feeling like one. Based out of Houston, the company sells itself with the motto “Fried chicken and champagne — why the hell not?” But don’t expect trailer park kitsch. Max’s made canny moves by…
During Fourth of July weekend festivities, did you kick back in one of Denver’s parks and enjoy an icy-cold beer? A 3.2 beer, of course: That’s all that’s allowed under current Denver Department of Parks and Recreation regulations. But that will be changing, because in a few years 3.2 beer…
Breckenridge Brewery has released a specialty series intended to capture the essence of its twelve-acre headquarters in Littleton. The additional brewing capacity at the farm-inspired spread along Brewery Lane has enabled the brewery to try many new recipes and launch several series this past year, the most recent of which…
Your Choice Colorado announced today that it will not pursue a November ballot initiative that would have allowed grocery stores to sell full-strength beer and wine as soon as they get their liquor licenses. The decision comes after Governor John Hickenlooper signed a bill on June 10 that allows grocery…
The Fourth of July isn’t just about fireworks and freedom — there’s also beer and barbecue! Just in time for this holiday weekend, Colorado’s craft brewers have released an unprecedented number of brand-new canned and bottled beers. Jonathan Shikes recently served up a guide to 25 of these new brews —…
At 5:30 p.m on the first workday of the week, there isn’t an oyster to be found at Brazen. Before most Denverites had punched the clock and slid down the brontosaurus tail, Brazen patrons had already declared this Mollusk Monday, ordering happy-hour oysters by the dozen. They came from over…
Pineapple Margarita at La Loma Pineapples always remind Yoid Gomez of home. Born in Havana, Cuba, Gomez uses his nostalgia for the tropical fruits native to his home country as inspiration for his current job as bar manager at La Loma, the venerable Jefferson Park eatery that will soon move…
Social media might have ruined yoga: With Instagram and Facebook posts of tiny LuluLemon pants in tree pose in front of waterfalls, or worse, the dancer pose requiring uber-flexibility polluting our feeds, it makes sense that some might be a little intimidated — or just downright annoyed. “Yoga has become…
Everyone screamed for ice cream after New Belgium Brewing and Ben & Jerry’s teamed up on their first beer collaboration last year, so the two like-minded companies are planning another one for this fall. “Inspired by one of Ben & Jerry’s smash hits, New Belgium has developed Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough…
To be fully honest and up front, the happy hour at Sarto’s isn’t, strictly speaking, a “happy hour.” But, spoiler warning: it is indeed happy. The cicchetti bar in place at this gleaming Italian spot in Jefferson Park is built around the Venice-born tradition of tapas and drinks humming in…
Seven years after it began canning, the Wynkoop Brewing Company has decided to stop packaging its beers or selling them to bars and restaurants outside of the brewpub and the Wynkoop’s sister restaurants. That means there will be no more six-packs of Belgorado, Railyard Ale or Colorojo on liquor-store shelves…
The look of liquor store shelves across Colorado continues to change. Fort Collins Brewery, which began canning its beers earlier this year, has decided to abandon bottles altogether and move its entire packaged lineup to aluminum. They’ll begin in August with Oktoberfest, a beer that won gold at the Great…
Punch in the Mouth at Steuben’s Food Service You might have had a Punch in the Mouth last summer at Steuben’s. You probably liked it, too. The drink that cold-cocked customers last year kept selling over the winter, and since it was so popular, bar manager Sam Trojanovich is offering…
A week after fourteen craft breweries split off from the Colorado Brewers Guild, which has represented the interests of state beer makers for two decades, Breckenridge Brewery and its new parent company, Anheuser Busch InBev, have released a statement related to the situation. Several of the breweries that left the…
“Have you been here before?” the woman asked, settling into her seat on the patio at Masterpiece Kitchen. “Well, just for happy hour,” her friend replied. “But that doesn’t really count.” Overhearing this made me wonder if happy hour does indeed matter at a place like MK, which opened back…
Last weekend I spotted a crew of visitors to Colorado who’d stocked up on beer at our neighborhood gas station/convenience store and were carting their booty back to their motel. These were clearly visitors to Colorado, because they had no idea they’d just loaded up on the training-wheels of alcohol:…
Hold on to your hats. Longmont’s Left Hand Brewing, the last holdout among Colorado’s largest craft breweries, has decided to start canning some of its beers. Although the brewery has maintained for years that it didn’t have any canning plans — and went so far as to participate in a…
Ryan Evans liked homebrewer Charlie Gottenkieny ‘s beers so much when he tried them for the first time several years ago that he promised to invest in a real brewery if Gottenkieny, a beer educator and beer judge, ever opened one. That promise paid off last weekend when the two…
The Jane at The Cruise RoomThe Cruise Room opened downtown on December 6, 1933, one day after the repeal of Prohibition. Since then, the room hasn’t changed much — nor has its cocktail menu. In the reddish glow of the narrow, Art Deco interior, bartenders sill make cocktails that thirsty…
Trends come and go. Fads fade even faster. But change is inevitable. That is one of the exciting things about craft beer. It is dynamic, it is always different, and it keeps people coming back for the newest thing. The latest flavor? Hazy, juicy IPAs made popular in the past…
The Colorado Brewers Guild, which has represented the interests of the state’s craft breweries for the past twenty years, has imploded in the face of a rapidly changing industry. At least fourteen independent craft breweries, including Colorado’s four largest —New Belgium, Oskar Blues, Odell Brewing and Left Hand — are…
Happy-hour conversation usually doesn’t turn to debates over authenticity. However you want to define culturally appropriate cuisine, it’s rarely an issue when cheap tacos or pork buns are coming fast and furious. There are plenty of deep happy-hour cuts beyond the sangria and Brussels sprouts syndicate — and Paxia Authentic…
