In honor of International Falafel Day last week, we served up our list of the Ten Best Falafel Spots in Denver, and included both longtime late-night mainstay Jerusalem and Garbanzo, the homegrown chain that now has 22 locations across the country. But while we appreciate those places, some readers do not…
This week you can pedal to free pancakes, tear it up at Top Taco, and enjoy a couple of wine dinners. Keep reading for all the delicious details on this week’s best culinary events. Monday, June 20 Frasca Food and Wine will host guest Blackberry Farm at a special guest-chef…
On this beautiful almost-summer weekend, people will be eating brunch — Denver’s favorite meal — at spots all over town. This week we served up our 2016 edition of the Ten Best Restaurants for Brunch in Denver, and found that choosing ten still left a lot on our plate. Or, as…
If all had gone according to plan, La Loma would already have been serving for two months in its new home at 1801 Broadway, in the former Trinity Grille. But when you’re renovating a thirty-year-old restaurant space, things rarely go according to plan — and La Loma will be staying put a…
This was a big week in Colorado beer news as the Colorado Brewers Guild was shaken by defections to a new organization called Craft Beer Colorado. A statement from Breckenridge Brewing and its parent company AB InBev was released today decrying the split and a claiming a “willingness to work…
Last month, chef Elise Wiggins left her longtime post at Panzano in the Hotel Monaco downtown with the goal of opening her own restaurant. At the time, she was in the process of hammering out a lease and so couldn’t talk about the location or name. But that deal is…
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…
Mezcal is finally beginning to earn respect in Denver, as was evidenced last night at a mezcal dinner hosted by Adelitas Cocina y Cantina. The dinner featured the spirits of Nuestra Soledad and El Jolgorio and proved enough of a draw to fill the dining room at Adelitas as well…
Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant is hosting a thirtieth-birthday block party all-day on Saturday, June 18, in Fort Collins, where it all began. We caught up with co-founder and owner Pat McGaughran for a Facebook Live chat this week, and guess what everyone wanted to know? The secret behind the Rio’s…
We don’t blame you for missing National Falafel Day on June 12, it’s not exactly the kind of holiday that attracts attention. But falafel is street food and street food is summer food, so what better time to declare your love for these Mediterranean deep-fried balls of garbanzo goodness —…
When chef/restaurateur Justin Cucci opened Root Down in 2008, guests were wowed by reclaimed gymnasium floors, a room divider festooned with old telephones, and remnants from the building’s previous incarnation as an auto mechanic’s garage cleverly given a second life. That year was the beginning of the Great Recession, though,…
“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…
When the team behind Oak at Fourteenth and Acorn hired pastry chef Michael Conti to preside over the dessert and pastry program at both of those restaurants, as well as Brider, which opened in December, then-restaurant critic Gretchen Kurtz applauded. Although she liked both Oak and Acorn, she’d found their…
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:…
Things are bound to get wild during Do at the Zoo today. So throw on your best animal-print attire and head to the 27th annual fundraising bash, which will feature food and drinks from over sixty of Denver’s top restaurants, live music, dancing, animal encounters and more. Over the years,…
Ahead of Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant’s thirtieth birthday block party on Saturday, we’re catching up with co-founder and owner Pat McGaughran on Facebook live today around 3:15 p.m. Participating is simple. If you haven’t already, like us on Facebook. Visit our page around 3 and join the conversation by asking any questions you…
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…
While some restaurants take Mondays off, others take the opportunity to offer special dinners on that typically slow day. Here are a couple of upcoming Monday-night feasts that will have you looking forward to what’s typically the worst day of the week. June 20 “A Tribe Called Betts” Wine Dinner…
Some of the best dishes I ate as a critic were at sibling restaurants Oak at Fourteenth and Acorn, owned by partners Steve Redzikowski and Bryan Dayton, from the class-defining kale-apple salad to the lamb shawarma. But as I noted in my reviews, desserts always seemed underwhelming. So last summer,…
New Belgium has come a long way since founders Jeff Lebesch and Kim Jordan first started cranking out beers in 1991. According to the Brewer’s Association, as of 2015 the brewery was the fourth-largest craft brewery in the United States based on beer sales volume, and the brewery has expanded beyond…
At 4:30 a.m. on a Wednesday morning, there’s not much going on along the 16th Street Mall. A guy standing at the intersection of 16th and Tremont Place is putting on deodorant, while a security guard peers out from a bank lobby into the darkness. But outside Denver’s newest doughnut…
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…
