St. Paddy’s Day gets off to an early start

Just in case you haven’t made your plans yet, the Fainting Goat has you covered this St. Paddy’s Day weekend. The bar at 846 Broadway starts the action at 5 p.m. tonight with a benefit for Volunteers for America that costs $40 but keeps the Guinness coming until the keg…

Shead’s, back from the dead

Today I was driving along East Iliff Avenue in Aurora when I spotted a name from the distant past: Shead’s. I’d reviewed Shead’s Fish and BBQ Heaven back in August 2002, just two months after I took this gig, and I remember the place as a rattletrap, strip-mall barbecue joint…

Journalists battle it out over chili

The number of journalists in Denver may be shrinking, but the media scene is still cooking – at least when it comes to chili. A few dozen reporters, editors, photographers and the like (including yours truly) will battle it out tonight (March 13) at the Denver Press Club, 1330 Glenarm,…

Candy Girls: Reese’s Milk Chocolate Layered Cookies

We have pretty much given up on Reese’s products that aren’t Reese’s cups. The story is getting old: Reese’s cups = delicious, Reese’s cup variants = eh. But as fate would have it, a colleague recently took a tour of the Hershey factory, where he purchased and brought back for us a…

The Arvada Tavern is back in business

The building at 5707 Wadsworth Boulevard that houses the Arvada Tavern started out as a blacksmith shop, then got Arvada’s first beer license after Prohibition, opening as the Dutch Inn in 1933, then turning into the Arvada Tavern. But by last year, the watering hole had gotten a little too…

Fuel Cafe gases up for expanded dinner hours

I’ve had a mad crush on Fuel Cafe, the urban-industrial restaurant at 3455 Ringsby Court in the Riverfront North Taxi project, ever since owner-chef Bob Blair started peddling housemade pastries, snickerdoodles and whoopee pies early last year.I could have kissed the kitchen floor when I hit the joint up for…

Rock and soul tonight — with chile and wine

You can party like a rock star at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, 191 Inverness Drive West in Englewood, at 6:30 p.m. tonight, Friday, March 13, at a special four-course meal featuring wines made by the legends of rock and roll, including Mick Fleetwood. Price for the one-time dinner…

Soul’d Roots supports justice for all

At 2 p.m. Sunday, March 15, “Soul’d Roots: A Food & Media Justice Institute,” hosts a Community Eat-in and Food Politics Talkback with an impressive roster of panelists, including Oakland-based eco-chef, food justice activist and author Bryant Terry, who’ll be on hand to sign his new book, Vegan Soul Kitchen. …

240 Union sets the table for Table Mountain Animal Center

240 Union (which now bills itself as “a creative grill”) is hosting its second annual “percentage day” to benefit Table Mountain Animal Center. Until 10 p.m. tonight, 240 owner Michael Coughlin will donate 25 percent of all food proceeds to the center, which helps more than 10,000 lost and homeless…

Little Raven awards you for cooking with wine

Little Raven Vineyards, the distinctive wine shop at 1590 Little Raven Street, wants to reward you for coming up with culinary creations. Just uncork your mind and create a recipe involving wine — and you could win a free bottle of the grape juice. The top two submissions will also…

Veggie Girl: Pasquini’s Pizzeria

Some days just beg to end in the back of a bar, hunched over a beer or two. There are plenty of Denver spots that will serve this purpose, but when your stomach also happens to be begging to be fed, a good bet is Zio Romolo’s Alley Bar, where…

The Wynkoop’s canny new strategy

The Wynkoop Brewing Co. was the first modern-era brewpub to open its doors in Denver, and this summer, it plans to become the first city brewery to sell its beer in cans. “We’re pushing for June,” says new Wynkoop head brewer Andy Brown, who got the project off the ground…

Sweet talk from Keegan Gerhard and other tasty events

There’s quite a smorgasbord of food-related fun tonight. “Taste Test: Random Encounters in the History & Science of Food” returns to the Lab at Belmar, 404 South Upham in Lakewood, at 6 p.m. today, March 12, when the focus will be on…sugar. Keegan Gerhard, pastry chef, Food Network host,owner of…

Shazz has a seriously bad name, and seriously good food

See more photos of Shazz at westword.com/slideshow. I was at the diner. My cell phone rang. It was Laura. “So where are you going to dinner?” “I already told you.” “Yeah, but I can’t remember.” “Shazz,” I whispered. “What?” “Jesus, don’t make me say it out loud in public.” “Just…

The rules of food reviewing

For as long as I have been doing this job, I have operated with one unbreakable rule: that absent everything else — decor and design and reputation and style and money and privilege and location and buzz — it is a restaurant’s food that matters. Mostly, this rule has been…

Tapping into the former Tap Inn

A warning, via whiteboard, from the staff at the Viking (4888 West Colfax Avenue): YOU NEED TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE WHEN: • You run your big fucking mouth because the bar is out of something • You call the bartender dirty names in another language, unaware she…

Our Weekly Bread: Vert Kitchen

The sandwich: Tortilla Española Where to get it: Vert Kitchen (704 South Pearl Street, 303-997-5941, www.vertkitchen.com) What’s on it: potato omelet, aioli, manchego cheese, lettuce and tomato How much: $8 It takes a lot to open a new eatery and even more to offer menu items far from the norm…

Ristras bringing New Mexico to Westminster

Andy Carter and his wife are taking their first shot at a restaurant — and yes, it’s a fast-casual place. Fast-casual New Mexican, actually. Both Carters are natives of New Mexico, and they thought Westminster would be the perfect spot for Ristras Santa Fe Grill, which opened a few weeks…

Wine Cellar coming to Highland

There’s more action at the edge of Highland, the area around Lola/Vita that developers are dying to dub LoHi. The Red Door, the hip store at 2556 15th Street (right at the corner where 15th becomes 29th Avenue), is now closed, its windows covered with brown paper. And written on…

From the longest main street to the biggest burrito

Celebrate the world’s longest main street at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11, when Satellite Bar, 308 East Colfax Avenue, hosts the monthly Happy on the Hill social. Satellite will offer drink specials, and CityGrille, located right across the street at 321 East Colfax, will supply the snacks.(Is it too…