Reader: People born and raised in Denver deserve competence at restaurants, too

The discussion over Gretchen Kurtz’s review of Restaurant Fourteen Seventy-Two has demonstrated how passionately people care about Platt Park (however it’s spelled), why you shouldn’t eat Mexican food in Charleston, what constitutes low-country cuisine and other lessons of geography, including itsbootytime’s suggestion that “if I had to guess this critic…

Dazzle turns fifteen tomorrow — happy (hour) birthday!

Dazzle will celebrate its fifteenth anniversary tomorrow. To commemorate the occasion, the club is throwing a party with the Bob Montgomery/Pete Olstad Big Band and the Funky Fresh Trio benefiting the Gift of Jazz, an organization supporting the past, present and future of jazz in the Rocky Mountain Region. And…

The Desk on 13th acquired by the Space Creators

The Space Creators, a Denver-based real estate development and brokerage firm, has announced a new partnership with The Desk, a co-working cafe that opened last year in the space that once held Buffalo Exchange, at 230 East 13th Avenue. “It’s great news,” says Desk owner Kristian Barowsky, who co-owns the…

Guess where I’m eating pig’s ears?

There’s nothing quite like a basket of fried pig’s ears to start a conversation, although at this bar, which was recently given a major makeover, conversation is at the heart of the convivial vibe. The ears share menu space with Salisbury steak and perogies, too, making it every bit as…

Paul Reilly will open Beast + Bottle in the former Olivea space

“Celebrating now!” read the text from Paul Reilly, who just inked a deal to take over Olivéa, Stephanie Bonin and Keith Arnold’s beloved New American restaurant, which the couple, along with exec chef John Broening and pastry chef Yasmin Lozada-Hissom (the betrothed twosome now own Spuntino), opened three-and-a-half years ago…

First look: Smashburger unveils new design concept

Next year, Smashburger, the smashingly successful Colorado-based burger chain, will unleash sixty to seventy more locations, not just in Colorado, or nationally, but around the world, all of which will incorporate a new design concept that’s just been unveiled in Colorado, including the newest outpost at 6305 East Hampden, just…

Brendan’s now installed at 404 Broadway

The space at 404 Broadway has been in a state of flux for over a year. After a sixty-year run as Jerry Feld’s Club 404, it changed hands in December 2011 and reopened in February as the Denver Wheel Club 404, a bike-themed bar that rolled to a halt in…

Photos: Curtis Park Creamery II opens in Aurora

For decades, Curtis Park Creamery has been a mainstay for good Mexican food in the Curtis Park/Five Points area. The take-out joint got its start back in 1969, when Lawrence and Beatrice Rodriguez opened a neighborhood market in a spot already known as Curtis Park Creamery, where Lawrence’s brother had…

Guess where I’m eating sopressata, asparagus and burrata?

We ordered a pizza, too, from the massive wood-fired oven, which is the focal point of this restaurant that also dispenses sopressata, burrata and asparagus, all on the same plate. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to a Guess Where post…

Living the Sweet Life is leaving LoHi

No sooner had the LoHi Merchants Group added up the bars, restaurants and coffee shops in the neighborhood to a whopping 55 than some of them started disappearing. Gramma Dor’s is gone, as is 32nd Treat. And now comes news that Erika Cunha, owner of Living the Sweet Life, is…