Taki’s on Colfax closes for maintenance

Taki’s Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar has been a mainstay on East Colfax for years. But Hisashi Takimoto, who opened it as Taki’s Healthy Japanese Food Restaurant in 1998, passed away in 2009, and the restaurant has gone through some changes since then. Now there are more under way: A…

Hurricane Grill & Wings lands in Littleton

Hurricane Grill & Wings opened this week at 8025 West Bowles Avenue in Littleton; it’s the first Colorado link in the Hurricane Grill & Wings chain that got its start in Florida in 1995 and quickly took off on the strength of its wings. The expansive menu includes more than…

Guess where I’m eating a corned beef sandwich?

This will never be Denver’s best deli, but it continues to carry on, turning out decent sandwiches to a golden age crowd, the women of which, judging from the really, really bad plastic surgeries and botox injections, are still trying to compete with the Forever 21 hipsters. Can you guess…

Guess where I’m eating a fiery fajita chile bowl?

Fiery green chile on a fire-hot day can make a grown woman cry. Really good chile, though, and the habanero-ghost chile sauce that you can order on the side is definitely a new obsession. Can you guess where I’m eating? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to…

The iconic Paris on the Platte catches fire

Platte Street is becoming a hot restaurant neighborhood — too hot last night, when a fire broke out on the roof of the Paris on the Platte bar. But one of the benefits of a hot neighborhood is neighbors: They spotted the blaze, and called the fire department. And the…

Tracking down the Beast + Bottle mussels….in Maine

At Beast + Bottle, servers love to tell the story of Bangs Island mussels nearly as much as people like to eat them. I’m glad I listened to the story: Just a few days after chef and co-owner Paul Reilly told me how he’d braved Maine’s chilly November temps to…

Guess where I’m drinking a bottle of Lucky Buddha beer?

This is the first time I’ve ever seen a bottle of Lucky Buddha beer, and while the taste profile is indistinguishable from lots of other beers, the bottle, which is now the newest beer statue in my kitchen, is unlike any I’ve seen, plus I can rub its belly. We…

Marty Steinke, exec chef of Linger: “Anonymity is paramount”

Marty Steinke Linger 2030 West 30th Avenue 303-993-3120 lingerdenver.com This is part one of my interview with Marty Steinke, exec chef of Linger; part two of our conversation will run tomorrow. It’s a good thing that Marty Steinke doesn’t hold grudges against grease, because if he did, he might never…

Tarasco’s New Latino Cuisine: Tamales on my mind

In A Federal Case, I’ll be eating my way up Federal Boulevard — south to north — within Denver city limits. I’ll be skipping the national chains and per-scoop Chinese joints, but otherwise I’ll report from every vinyl booth, walk-up window and bar stool where food is served. Here’s the…

Reader: No way would Bastien’s spring for this much parsley

Just about every day, Cafe Society posts a mystery dish/drink ordered somewhere in the metro area, and asks readers to guess where we’re eating; every Monday we award one of the previous week’s winning answers an EatDenver deck. And the guesses have been coming out of the circa ’70s woodwork…

Denver’s fifty most essential restaurants, No. 50: Vesta Dipping Grill

What defines an essential restaurant? Several opinionated friends and I were recently discussing that topic during dinner at a trendy newcomer that’s amassed a flurry of flattery since opening its doors. It’s a restaurant-of-the-moment, but will it still be relevant in six months? Will the crowds continue to jam the…

Guess where I’m eating a dish straight out of the ’70s?

Everything about this restaurant, from the music and the decor, to the dried parsley that wreaths the plates and the medley of painstakingly overcooked vegetables, screams old-school weariness. Bonus points, though, for the thick pork chop, which managed to arrive properly grilled. But the burgundy mushroom sauce? As dated as…

Firedough heats up the dining scene in southeast Denver

The odd name of Firedough Mediterranean Grill, Bakery & Pies says it all. This new outpost in Centennial specializes in savory pies (known as “manoushi”), but it also offers marinated and char-grilled meats, fresh bread and salads and other Mediterranean specialties, many from family recipes handed down for decades by…