9th Avenue Grill makes way for Jersey Street Bar and Grille

The block-long shoppette that runs along the east side of Jersey Street, between Ninth and Tenth avenues, seems like a great location for a restaurant. Located in the Mayfair neighborhood, it is close to lots of homes, offices and Mayfair Park. But owner Alex Pappas has had a hard time…

Tavern Hospitality Group breaks ground in Littleton

Tavern Hospitality Group just broke ground on the project that will debut as Tavern Littleton in April 2011. Last year, THG owners Frank Schultz and Terry and Al Papay purchased a building and lot at 2589 West Main Street in the heart of the historic district, where they plan to…

Frank Bonanno will open Lou’s Food Bar in December

See that photo up top? That’s the former home of Ron & Dan’s Keg, and the future address of Lou’s Food Bar, Frank Bonanno’s new restaurant, which was gutted yesterday after Bonanno, who also owns Bones, Luca d’Italia, Mizuna , Osteria Marco (and soon, Wednesday’s Pies), sealed the deal on…

Malfunction at Arapahoe Junction

Another one bites the dust: Arapahoe Junction, a longtime breakfast/lunch/happy-hour/cheap dinner hangout at 1805 Arapahoe Street, has gone dark, and its phone is disconnected. No word yet on what will happen with this ground-floor space, which also has a spacious patio…

The Justice League’s third party will have an ’80s theme

The Justice League of Street Food is on a roll, and will hold its third party October 1. From 5 to 10 p.m. this Friday, the Deluxe Little Orange Rocket, the Inventing Room and Sully’s Slice Truck, the Cupcake Truck, Biker Jim’s, Steuben’s, the Biscuit Bus, Pinche Tacos, Steamin’ Demon…

Has the Counter closed?

The Counter created a big buzz when it opened two years ago in the new Vistas at Park Meadows development. But now it has apparently closed very, very quietly. Although the restaurant is still listed as a dining option on the Park Meadows website, the Colorado location has been wiped…

Guess where I’m drinking?

This is Guinness and champagne — which, if you’re drinking low-end champagne (or, more likely, sparkling wine), is a great way to temper the sweetness. Can you guess where I’m drinking? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Where am I drinking/eating posts is entered…

OpenTable lists America’s top fifty restaurants “fit for foodies”

OpenTable.com, the free (for consumers) online reservations program, just released its 2010 Diners’ Choice Awards for restaurants that are most Fit for Foodies, the victors of which were determined by more than seven million online reviews as voted by OpenTable diners. The question is, how many Colorado restaurants made the…

Organic Pizza Company: Now tossing haute pies in Highland

Organic Pizza Company, an eco-conscious take-and-bake pizza joint, opened on Friday at 4500 West 38th Avenue in Highland, the first of a forthcoming wave of organic pizza dens from partners Allen Milham and Darrell Naughton, who plan to open a second outpost in SPIRE Denver, 891 Fourteenth Street, in early…

Guess where I’m eating?

We weren’t offered the happy hour menu, even though the bartender made sure that everyone else around us got one; the flank steak, albeit a perfect mid-rare, was so chewy that I gave up; and then the computers failed, which made paying by credit card all but impossible. But the…

Guess where you’re eating? At an EatDenver restaurant, if you’re Bob

Last week, Cafe Society served up four Guess where contests (not including our seasonal green chile category), featuring everything from this still-unidentified sea urchin roe (sorry, not Long John Silver’s) to a champagne cocktail at Capital Grille to some unexpected tacos. For correctly identifying them as coming from the new…

Chick-fil-A tests its Spicy Nuggets in Denver this week

First came Chick-fil-A’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich. Now Denver is among the five markets testing Chick-fil-A’s new Spicy Nuggets — think of them as Spicken Little. From today through October 2, you can get a free taste (eight nuggets) by making a reservation at getspicynuggets.com. All twenty stores in the metro…

Guess where I’m drinking?

I’m not much of a champagne drinker, but at the posh digs where the above photo was taken, I couldn’t resist this summery champagne cocktail made with Averna, an Italian liqueur. Can you guess where I’m drinking? Special bonus: Anyone who gives the first correct answer to the week’s Where…

Civic Center Eats ends Tuesday — but trucks will keep rolling

The already-extended Civic Center Eats will hold its last Tuesday event of the year next week — but the fun isn’t over yet. “Starting in October, we will be shifting to a much smaller-scale version, but on a daily basis,” explains Lindy Eichenbaum Lent, director of the Civic Center Conservancy…

In the kitchen with Mezcal’s Roberto Diaz: Gorditas

Roberto Diaz, the chef featured in this week’s Chef and Tell interview, was born and raised in Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico, where gorditas are king. “They were always served with our meal on Sunday while I was growing up, and I could never get enough of them,” says Diaz…

Top five uses for zucchini

Missoula, Montana, is a lovely town in the middle of nowhere with a population consisting primarily of cowpokes and carnivores. Yesterday, the two met in a standoff on the back porch of a house just outside of town, when a black bear paid a surprise visit to a local woman…

Top Chef Just Desserts: Nice guys don’t finish first

Dessert’s a funny thing in fancy restaurants these days. No more slices of cherry tart, chocolate cake or apple strudel unless they’re miniatures, deconstructed, flavored with something incongruous like curry, set on curlicues of sauce you have to sample with your finger because there’s not enough to get on a…

Guess where I’m eating….green chile?

Smother love: It’s easy being green in Denver in September, when the smell of roasting chiles overrides the odor of exhaust along Federal Boulevard, and the green chile at your favorite Mexican joint carries the heat of the new harvest. For the next several weeks, Cafe Society will feature some…