No. 57: Chorizo Breakfast Stew at DJ’s 9th Avenue Cafe Food doesn’t always have to be fancy or fussed over to be great. Sometimes it just needs to be the right dish at the right time. In cold and blustery weather, when stumbling into a cafe steamy with vapors from…
While LoDo is known for late-night douche-baggery, Jimmy’s Urban Bar & Grill, a family-run, neighborhood joint that just happens to be wedged into a stretch of blocks more known for last call than first cups of coffee, is a mid-morning reprieve from the bros and bro-ettes. On a quiet weekend…
Move over, Brussels sprouts. Stand aside, kale. It’s time for another vegetable to be tapped as trendiest snack: shishito peppers. And we’re all for it, because unlike those other two veggies, these slender green peppers are proving themselves to be highly versatile, so that every bowl around town doesn’t taste…
Ethniche started in May as a deep dive into a different ethnic cuisine each month. Since then, I’ve traveled through Hawaii, Ethiopia, Greece, Thailand, the American South, India, Eastern Europe and back home to Colorado for four weeks of Den-Mex green chile in December. On my journeys, I’ve found that…
Our Backbeat blog shared the sad news yesterday: D Note, a mainstay in Arvada for a dozen years, will close on January 3. When the DeGraff family sold the spot two years ago to Dave and Mernie Rosenberg, live music became as integral to the spot as the pizza that…
After exactly one year, the vegan cafe and elixir bar Nectar House is closing its doors. Located inside the lobby of the Kindness Yoga Studio on South Broadway, the business was doing pretty well, according to co-owner Piper Rose, but she feels that it’s simply time to move on. The…
After one of the biggest drinking days of the year, ringing in the new year with a hearty meal at one of Denver’s finest brunch spots is a must. Whether you’re rolling out of bed with a raging hangover or raring to get a head start on those resolutions, usher…
Denver has given birth to many fast-casual efforts, from the giant Chipotle to Smashburger to the just-opened, one-of-a-kind Biju’s Little Curry House. But after we rounded up the ten best new fast-casual spots in Denver last week, some readers made it clear they don’t find the fast-casual concept very appetizing…
While Cafe Society writers have been looking back over the past year, would-be restaurateurs are still scrambling to get their spots open and grab some of the last holiday business before the January doldrums hit. City Stacks, a bookstore/coffeehouse, has started a new chapter in LoDo. Waffle Brothers finally opened…
No. 58: Diavola Pizza at Pizzeria Locale 3484 West 32nd Avenue, 303-302-2451 550 Broadway, 720-508-8828 Lachlan MacKinnon-Patterson and Bobby Stuckey, owners of Frasca and the original Pizzeria Locale in Boulder, didn’t skimp when they decided to open a fast-casual version of their traditional Neapolitan pizza place on Broadway almost two…
Jason McGovern has been serving up deep-dish pizza out of a window at the back of the Bar Car for a couple of years, but he’s finally getting his own place. His stand-alone Denver Deep Dish opens tomorrow in Lower Highland on a stretch of West 38th Avenue that’s seeing…
Now that the eight days of excuses to eat fried food (also known as Hanukkah) have come and gone, you may be craving something that will satisfy your inner East Coaster: a good New York City bagel. Yes, we know that Denver is not New York, and for any NY…
It’s been a long haul, but partner John Power says the new Waffle Brothers will open this morning at First Avenue and Washington Street — and the crew is excited to get those doors open. They were working late on Christmas Day, putting in the finishing touches on the renovated…
The red and black colors of a new Ink Coffee cafe adorn the former Cash From Clutter building at 2851 Larimer Street, across the street from the neighborhood’s five-year veteran, Crema Coffee House. At first, the addition made me wince: on a street that has small, local businesses popping up…
This was a year of big changes. I went from writing a weekly blog post about Federal Boulevard to covering the Denver food scene every day as a full-time job — and there has been plenty to cover. I was lucky enough to land the gig in the middle of…
Crema Coffee House is arguably one of the pioneers of the River North neighborhood. Owner Noah Price opened the hole in the wall cafe at Larimer and 29th streets five years ago. At the time, the the tiny space fit a dozen or so people comfortably; the rest of the…
On the northwest corner of 44th Avenue and Federal Boulevard, there’s a liquor store, a Heads of State and La Fuente Mexican restaurant. La Fuente is barely noticeable but for a few banners and signs advertising breakfast and tamales. The restaurant looks like it’s been there forever, slowly accumulating those…
In a year jam-packed with bar and restaurant openings, it was sometimes a relief to find comfort in familiar favorites. But even a few of these took advantage of the favorable economic climate to improve on already successful formulas. Two of them closed and remodeled; reopening as larger versions of…
If you were ever doubtful that a Welton Street renaissance would arrive in Five Points, Dunbar Kitchen and Tap House will relieve those worries. The new restaurant with classic cocktails, shelves of local liquor, a brick-and-wood décor and Southern-tinged menu is a surprise in the mainly quiet Welton Street strip…
Josh Epps and Christina Smith, owners of the two Jelly Cafes in Denver (the original on Colfax Avenue and Jelly U near the University of Denver), live in the Berkeley neighborhood and wanted a family-friendly restaurant to take their kids for a reasonably priced dinner. The solution? They decided to…
Basil Doc’s has been turning out pizza since 1996 under the direction of owner Mike Miller. While the Crestmoor location isn’t the original store (the first Basil Doc’s, near Washington Park, is still turning out pizzas), Miller is now focusing his attentions on the little spot tucked in a row…
With the year drawing to a close, it’s time to look back on the top trends of 2014. The most important — the one driving all the other trends — is sheer growth. More than 300 bars and restaurants flung open their doors this year in the metro area, enough…
