Food & Drink

We were surprised last week to find that the third-worst restaurant in America might well be in Denver — and it’s not Casa Bonita. It’s Ho Mei, a trio of Chinese joints previously known — if they were known at all, for their cheap prices. Meanwhile, another cheap chain continues…

This week Gretchen Kurtz reviewed the underrated and vegetarian-friendly Sunny Gardens, which specializes in dishes with mock meat. Mark Antonation, who’s still eating his way up Federal Boulevard one restaurant at a time, stopped at the “burrito bunker” of the original Bubba Chinos. His meal there was a gut bomb,…

With four Trader Joe’s stores in the works for Colorado — but none slated to open this year — the wait has been soul-crushing for local TJ’s enthusiasts, some of whom have been waiting for decades for a link of the California-based chain. Julie Geller, a local musician and resident…

A second Slice Works Pizza will be opening in early 2014 at the corner of 17th and Blake streets, in the former home of Toppings. The original opened early last year next to Argonaut Liquors at 700 East Colfax Avenue. See also: A third Patxi’s Pizza will open in November…

There are no seats at this take-out pizza place, which also turns out lovely salads and wicked-good calzones and strombolis. And late last night, when everyone tells you not to eat, I guiltily devoured half of a stromboli at my desk while watching Misery on TV. Not a bad way…

Andrea Wight, the subject of this week’s chef and tell interview, solidified her career path in pastry after baking a batch of brownies when she was young, a childhood habit that her dad encouraged her to pursue. Now the pastry chef at Beast + Bottle, Wight is responsible for creating…

If you’re looking for a sports bar — but want to watch a sport other than football or basketball, you’ll be in luck come December, when Xtreme Action American Grill & Sports Bar will open downtown in Champa Square. See also: Federal Bar & Grill opens in the former Micky…

A new sushi den has opened in Lakewood, and with its extensive sushi menu, full liquor license and elegant decor, it’s a welcome addition to the westside food scene. Kazoku Sushi, located at 10665 West Colfax Avenue, quietly took the plunge at the end of September. And depending on how…

“The guys from Pour Kids are great at opening sports bars and taverns, and Table 6 is great at fine-dining and service, so let’s take what we all do — the fun of sports and the amazing food and service of Table 6 — and meld them into one.” That’s…

You really, really don’t want to have the reputation of being the worst Halloween candy-giving house on the block. So don’t hand out Tootsie Rolls, candy corn or those nefarious orange-and-black-wrapped chewy things. And don’t even think about gifting trick-or-treaters with shwag like toothbrushes or anything homemade — unless you…

This week The Daily Meal released its list of possibly the five worst restaurants in America. Third on the list was in metro Denver — and no, it wasn’t Casa Bonita. It’s Ho Mei, a local mini-chain of cheap Chinese food, which the Daily Meal described with this: Ho Mei…

Everyone remembers the classic tale of friendship, spelling and loss in E.B White’s Charlotte’s Web. And if you were not convinced to become a vegetarian by either the book or the film, you might want to sign up for tonight’s Some Pig & Some Beer dinner at 6:30 p.m. at…

Last week we told you about the Nature’s Place People’s Choice contest to choose the greenest restaurant in Colorado, as well as 23 other states. Well, the votes have been counted, and while WaterCourse Foods and The Kitchen in Boulder both were among Colorado’s finalists, the Ploughboy in tiny Salida…

I’d normally go for the lemon sorbet or something else with a fruity tang, but when the guy in front of me ordered the “Bronco Sunday” ice cream, his enthusiasm was too infectious not to follow suit, so I did, only to find out that “Bronco Sunday” ice cream tastes…

Taki’s has seen a lot of changes on Colfax since the restaurant opened more than two decades ago. And there have been changes at Taki’s, too. After Hisashi Takimoto, who opened the spot as Taki’s Healthy Japanese Food Restaurant in 1998, passed away in 2009, the restaurant got a new…

Andrea Wight Beast + Bottle 719 East 17th Avenue 303-623-3223 beastandbottle.com This is part two of interview with Andrea Wight, pastry chef of Beast + Bottle. Part one my chat with Wight ran yesterday. What cookbooks and/or food-related reading material do you draw inspiration from? Recently I brought in Johnny…

Mock meat, the kind stir-fried with carrots and green peppers at Sunny Gardens, which I review this week, doesn’t just come from Taiwan. Whole Foods sells a chicken look-alike from Beyond Meat, both packaged and in the vegan hot bar. Curious, I took a look at the package of lightly…

An wholly likable alliance has formed between the Jefferson Symphony Orchestra and Blue Moon Brewing Company, and the result will be tonight’s Symphony of Tastes, an evening of classical music and brews. See also:Ten Denver restaurants that use beer in their savory dishes…

The Lobby is getting a new look in celebration of its fourth birthday — and the “Playful Eats. Serious Drinks” party could last all night. Take a trip down memory lane with the staff at this Ballpark neighborhood spot as they celebrate the restaurant’s start through its current, successful incarnation…

Colin Mallet, executive chef at Sassafras American Eatery, thinks Sunny Gardens is Denver’s most underrated restaurant. It’s so underrated that I’d never even heard of it. I Googled the name, found a Sunny Gardens — then checked to see if I’d read Mallet’s Chef and Tell answer wrong, because this…