Food & Drink

Santiago’s Mexican Restaurants, a homegrown chain, got its start in 1990 at a single store in Brighton, with a very special ingredient — owner Carmen Morales used her mother Rachel’s recipe for Santiago’s now-famous “Authentic Green Chile Sauce with Pork.” From one store grew many, and today there are twenty…

Initially, Jenn Wohletz thought that Taco Bell’s new Cantina Bell menu might give Chipotle a run for its money. But when a reader wondered how the same dishes might taste when made by a stoned teenager, she ordered the new bowls at an actual Taco Bell outlet — and she…

Mark your calendar for Thursday, September 6. That’s the date for Dish, Westword’s eighteenth annual event dedicated to eating and imbibing. We’re staying outside this year, but moving the festivities to a new venue: the Sculpture Park outside of the Denver Performing Arts Complex, where attendees can enjoy the great…

Bean Fosters, a coffee shop/used bookstore, opened last week in the former home of Read, Write & Brew — which also served coffee and sold books. “It was a quick transition,” says Truett Mickey, who co-owns the shop at 720 Golden Ridge Road in Golden with his wife, Shana. “I’d…

I was as surprised as everyone else when Taco Bell announced that it was going fast-cazh with the new Cantina Bell menu — a blatant rip-off of Chipotle’s signature healthy, fresh Mexican-inspired burritos and bowls, albeit at slightly slower prices. I even attended a Taco Bell rollout dinner, hosted by…

On July 28, Josh and Jen Wolkon, the owners of Vesta Dipping Grill, Steuben’s and the Steuben’s Food Truck, will introduce special-invite Denverites to Ace, a behemoth ping-pong palace and Asian restaurant that’s been in the works for months — and opens to the public next Wednesday. And while Josh…

Meats and cheeses, olives and beets, peppadew peppers and roasted garlic. There’s no better way to kick off a marathon meal of meatballs the size of a baseball, pastas and pizzas than with a good antipasti plate. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first…

The upstairs dining room of the Arvada Yak and Yeti is like an eccentric grandmother’s attic, with its slanting ceilings and a shelf of books with such archaic titles as Communications in the Future (written in 1982). There are also enough cultural artifacts adorning the walls and shelves to stock…

Yes, National Drive-Thru Day is a real thing. And yes, Jack in the Box is contributing to the festivities by offering coupons for its terrible tacos. What must people do to earn this punishment reward? Just be customers of Jack in the Box today. And you don’t even have to…

Last week Dave Mullins and Charlie Craig stopped by Lakewood’s Masterpiece Cakeshop to order a cake for their wedding reception — what they hoped would be a rainbow-layered masterpiece decked out in teal and red frosting (their ceremony colors). Although they’ll be reciting their vows in Provincetown, Massachusetts, the couple…

According to the Aurora Police Department, there is one singular demonic monster responsible for Friday’s unthinkable early morning massacre at the Dark Night Rises screening at a Century movie theater in Aurora — and he’s now sequestered in solitary confinement in a jail cell. But it appears that at least…

It’s hard to argue with most of the changes made during the six-week-long renovation of theWazee Supper Club. For the first time in forty years, for example, the restaurant has air-conditioning — and it couldn’t have been introduced at a better time. And while the dumbwaiter is no longer needed…

There was no solace to be found this weekend, although the twice-dipped ice cream cones from this shrine to sundaes, shakes and swirls made for a fleeting moment of sweet nostalgia. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Guess…

Denver’s new restaurants just keep getting better, bolder and more big city. For proof, look at Central Bistro and Bar, the Highland restaurant that will open to the public on Wednesday. “We spent a ton of time researching award-winning restaurant designs, and used those as inspiration for our own design…

Red Robin, home of the juicy, fried-egg and crispy bacon-garnished Royal Red Robin burger, is hot for two new burger styles: “Cry Baby” and “Fiery Ghost.” Having already tried much of the Denver-based chain’s lineup at Red Robin’s Burger Works, I had to find out of these two hottie burgers…

This is the third in a series of pieces profiling Colorado-grown products…and what some local restaurants do with them. Why is Red Wagon Organic Farm’s produce so beloved among Colorado’s chefs? Simple: They know when to let it go. “If the quality isn’t there, we simply don’t offer it for…

Cafe Society dished up five Guess Where? contests last week, ranging from a margarita from Margs Taco Bistro to a damn good patty melt from Zaidy’s Deli to one of my favorite dishes so far this year: a Vietnamese lamb curry…

No one’s saying you have to go meatless just because it’s Monday — but as incentive to join the growing movement, every week we’re offering an animal-free recipe. Have you ever met a pancake naysayer — someone who claims not to like pancakes? We think those people have been subjected…

In honor of the chain’s founding in 1964, Arby’s is offering its Classic Roast Beef sandwich for just 64 cents today…