Fancy dancin’ at Katie Mullen’s

It’s already got four bars, a full menu, big crowds and, in my opinion, the best Guinness pour in the city.  It has a prime location (at 1550 Court Place) for foot traffic, a big patio and an entire hotel’s worth of captive customers.  So what else could Katie Mullen’s…

Better late than never for Chinook Tavern

A reader recently e-mailed me a good question: Whether the Chinook Tavern — which left its longtime home at 265 Detroit Street last June, in hopes of reopening at the Landmark last fall — was ever going to reappear.That e-mail got me thinking, because it seems like, well, forever since…

Second chance for Rioja

Kurobuta pork belly, seared on the surface, rubbed with cardamom, properly rested so that it isn’t wet with fat, and mounted atop a chunky mound of curry-spiced garbanzo bean puree, green like smashed peas, smooth as whipped potatoes. It’s a singularly delicious plate — the best of a whole, long…

Tony’s raises the bar for its neighbors

Westword’s last office was across the street from the Wynkoop Brewing Company at 1634 Wynkoop Street — and in the early days of that brewpub, our staffers drank a lot of beers (and other things) there. “Westword kept us in business for two years,” former brewmeister/now mayor John Hickenlooper recalled…

The 99 cent burrito and tamale deal at Gomez

Gomez, the Mexican pit stop at 3600 Park Avenue West, just off 38th Avenue and I-25, is beating the recession big time with all-day, every day 99 cent specials on the joint’s housemade pork-studded tamales and its egg, potato and cheese or bean and cheese burrito. If you want your…

Pizzaman survives on The Bachelorette

Denver’s entry on The Bachelorette, “pizza entrepreneur” Mark Huebner, survived round three of the show last night. But while he’s wooing bachelorette Jillian — in TV time, at least — work continues at Huebner’s Denver Pizza Company, with the windows at 309 West 11th Avenue filled with city permits and…

A sign of the times at La Loma

From the hillside overlooking downtown, La Loma has been slinging green chile for close to four decades. It’s the recipe created by grandma Savina Mendoza, whose chile became so popular that the two families that opened La Loma in an old bungalow back in 1974 soon had saved enough money…

Zanzibar Billiards gets ready to break on Larimer

There’s plenty of action in the 2000 block of Larimer Street these days. The Gin Mill is finishing up the Barn Out Back, its backyard patio; the Three Door Bistro is looking at a July debut; and across the street at 2046 Larimer, Zanzibar Billiards Bar & Grill is getting…

Feast tonight at Feast on the Fax

Eleven East Colfax restaurants will take part in tonight’s Feast on the Fax, an annual event organized by the East Denver Colfax Partnership and local businesses that encourages foodophiles to walk, bike or hop on a free shuttle bus that takes patrons from restaurant to restaurant — where they can…

First impressions of Choppers Custom Salad Works

Being a somewhat reluctant advocate of the salads at Green Fine Salad Company and Mad Greens, both Colorado-based weed joints (in the gourmet lettuce kind of way, people), I thought I’d check out the new Choppers Custom Salad Works at 5302 DTC Boulevard, in Greenwood Village. It, like the others…

Door to Door makes local food easy

I didn’t make it to the Boulder Farmers’ Market this weekend, and to clear my karma I just may have to call Door-to-Door Organics. This local company has offered delivery of organic food for a while now, but in July it will reintroduce its “All Local” box, with delivery of…

Ask The Critic: A quick reverse

Most Mondays, I waste time at my desk by posing a question asked by one of the dining public, then answer it in my own special way.This week, I’m doing something different. This week, the question is mine and I’m looking for answers from all of you out there in…

Colore Pizzeria Moderna set to heat up South Broadway

Colore Pizzeria Moderna, the latest in a line of Italian cafes owned by the folks who run Cucina Colore at 3041 East Third Avenue and Cafe Colore at 1512 Larimer Street, is scheduled to open June 15 at 2700 South Broadway. When I dropped in on Friday and spoke with…

The Gin Mill adds the Barn Out Back

The Gin Mill, at 2041 Larimer Street, has become an integral part of Denver’s oldest commercial neighborhood in just a few years, as this recent slide show makes clear. And now the watering hole is about to become even more indispensible: In a couple of weeks, it will open the…

Baker St. Pub moves into former Nine75

While other chains contract, Baker St. Pub & Grill has been taking advantage of the economy by snapping up now-empty locations in the metro area. First it took on a Chili’s at 1729 28th Street in Boulder; now it’s adding the former Nine75 north space at 2831 West 120th Avenue…

Milking It: Golden Grahams

Golden Grahams General Mills Rating: Two-and-a-half spoons out of four. Cereal description: Thin, rigid — and ridged — rectangles made of whole grain wheat and corn meal whose color corresponds with the brown-sugar syrup that’s largely used to flavor them. And strangely enough, that’s about it: There are far fewer…

Gelazzi’s gelatinis are unwrapped tonight on the Food Network

Gelazzi, the gelateria at 1411 Larimer Street, with additional shops in Fort Collins and Highlands Ranch, is making its television debut tonight, June 8, at 7 p.m. on Food Network’s Unwrapped, the popular show hosted by Marc Summers that explores America’s most classic foods. (Think peanut butter, bubblegum and fried…

Cafe Society: Week in review

What you might have missed this week on Cafe Society…May ushered in a slew of new restaurant openings and saw out a couple more.Jason Sheehan asked for advice on where to wine and dine herbivore guests while still being able to indulge his meat-eating needs.The staff at Jonesy’s EatBar and the…