In the Best of Denver 2016, we named Berkeley the Best New Restaurant Neighborhood — not just for the new restaurants moving into the area, but because the mix of new and old have made this area just past Highland in northwest Denver an increasingly vibrant dining destination. You can…
Denver’s annual stoner holiday, 4/20, rolls into town this week — bringing with it a grab bag of events and clouds of smoke. Whether you’re planning on participating in the festivities or just catching a contact high, you can cure your munchies at numerous culinary events. And for those of…
Despite all the warnings of another snowmageddon hitting the Front Range, most residents of Denver should have no trouble getting out and about in what added up to six or so inches of snow — and if they holed up yesterday in anticipation of the storm, they’ll be hungry to leave…
A snowy Denver day — the perfect time to find a bar stool where you can spend an hour….or ten. Last week we served up our list of the Ten Best Bars in Metro Denver, and one choice drew applause from many fans. Says Kristen: The PS Lounge has the…
This week was a comeback week for several eateries around town. Leña and School House Kitchen & Libations both reopened on Tuesday after fires forced them to close earlier in the spring. That’s good news for the employees who decided to stay on as well as for customers. And an…
In February, La Loma announced that in two months, it would be leaving the spot at 2527 West 26th Avenue in Jefferson Park where it’s been perched for the past thirty years, and moving to the space vacated by the Trinity Grille, at 1801 Broadway, while it continues to plan…
When Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project got its start in Denver in 2012, the brewery raised money with a members-only Cellar Reserve club: to belong, fans coughed up $300 in exchange for guaranteed access to some of the brewery’s limited-release projects. Although most of the beers were excellent and helped…
Denver is losing some of its great dive bars, as development gobbles up the buildings that have long housed these down-and-dirty saloons. Some of the city’s classic watering holes have dried up altogether; others have been renovated out of true dive status, although they remain excellent bars (for examples, see…
We’ve had a good run of warm days recently, which can only mean one thing this time of year in Colorado: Bad weather is on the way. Although the weather is threatening to get nasty this weekend, you don’t have to spend your days off locked up at home. There…
Are dives an endangered species in Denver? As developers buy up the buildings that house them, these classic watering holes are drying up fast. In February, Denver lost the Filling Station; its home in RiNo is about to disappear. Other one-time dives, like the Squire and Don’s Club Tavern, have…
Fans of the wood-fired cooking of Leña have been missing the eatery’s Latin American menu since a kitchen fire closed the Broadway restaurant on March 30. But Leña reopened last night with new menu items to usher in it’s rises from the ashes. The restaurant posted this note on its…
Third-generation Colorado native Sean Smiley founded State 38 Distilling in 2013 with the goal of being the only all-agave distillery in the United States. And for the past three years, that’s been true; State 38 currently offers a lineup of three agave spirits — blanco, reposado and añejo — as…
Just about every brewery in Colorado makes an IPA, or two, or ten. Most are decent. Many are outstanding. But recently, the definition of what makes a good IPA has gotten a little murky. A couple of events this week, including one tonight at Jake’s Brew Bar in Littleton, will…
It’s often best to keep it casual, whether you’re on a second date or introducing your parents to your polyamorous anarchist collective. There’s no point in getting dressed up and worked up when you can take it easy. Since 1933, Billy’s Inn has existed as a living invitation to low-stakes…
Failure can be tough to handle. It can be brutal, soul-crushing and deflating. But often, and usually in retrospect, failure can be funny, and it can also be a stepping stone to success. Failures, just like successes, should be celebrated, but they rarely are — until FuckUp Nights comes to…
No. 83: The Meatball Hero at Lil’ Ricci’s New York Pizzeria In 1999, there was one Lil’ Ricci’s New York Pizzeria, and it was located in a strip mall behind Tamarac Square on East Hampden Avenue. The original Lil’ Ricci’s is long gone now, as is the entire Tamarac Square…
Mornings grew a little sadder when the Kolache Factory closed on Wadsworth Boulevard three years ago. Fans of the baked buns stuffed with all manner of sweet and savory fillings made do for a time with the Kolache Cabin, which peddled breakfast and lunch pastries from a mobile hut at…
As part of its 25th anniversary celebration this year, New Belgium Brewing “is going back to its roots” by teaming up with four breweries from “old” Belgium to make four Lips of Faith collaboration beers — one of which will be released during each quarter of 2016. The beers are…
The news came earlier this month: big-hearted Jon Emmanuel is leaving Project Angel Heart to follow a dream and run a B&B in Missouri. Given how hard the chef has worked for the cause — which supplies healthy meals to people in metro Denver suffering from debilitating, often life-threatening illnesses — it…
Like many kids, Jesse Vega dreamed of being an astronaut when he grew up. Now the thought makes him shudder. “Space scares the hell out of me,” says Vega, who joined Central Bistro & Bar as a line cook in 2013 and took over as executive chef in November. “I…
Do good while eating well! Colorado-based fast-casual MAD Greens has partnered with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Colorado-Wyoming Chapter, on a spring fundraiser. For every seasonal Doc Holliday salad — baby greens, red grapes, oranges, citrus chicken, red onions, MAD spice pumpkin seeds and miso sesame vinaigrette — sold in…
An electrical fire closed School House Kitchen & Libations at 5560 Olde Wadsworth Boulevard at the end of February, and while no employees or customers were injured in the blaze, damage to the kitchen was extensive enough to keep the place closed since then. But repairs and inspections are finally…
