“Whack the sad sack pinata!” urges a Facebook posting. “At Qdoba we know that packing your lunch is the pits. That’s why this Friday in downtown Denver, Qdoba is giving you a break from having to eat lunch at your desk.Head down to the 16th Street Mall and have a…
Driving down Arapahoe Street Wednesday, I almost crashed my car when I saw that the restaurant at the corner of 15th had changed its name. Again.For years, this space was the home of the execrable Gallagher’s, where I once had a very long night with then-Westword restaurant critic Kyle Wagner…
Several of the area’s liquid assets are on display today. From 3-8 p.m., the Twisted Pine Brewery, at 3201 Walnut Street in Boulder, hosts a release party in its tap room for Pearl Street Porter, created to commemorate Boulder’s 150th anniversary; find details at www.twistedpinebrewing.com. From 5-7 p.m., Zen Ultra…
The first numbers are coming in from Katie Mullen’s Restaurant and Pub, which opened on Monday at 1550 Court Place, and they’re huge. Yesterday, just two days after opening, they did 800 covers, give or take. This morning, the house was on a wait from the minute they opened the…
Dig it. I know there’s been a lot of talk, here and elsewhere, about the fantastic deals to be found during Denver Restaurant Week. One thing that’s not getting a lot of ink: How killed all those restaurant crews will be during that February 21-28 stretch. And where’s the payoff…
I walked into Happy Noodle House at 835 Walnut Street in Boulder, looking for a little happy-hour joy. And I found it. Another one of Dave Query’s Big Red F Restaurant Group places, the noodle house has a clean, modern feel, with communal tables, warm hand towels, trays of condiments…
Tip your Bordeaux to Café Etoile, as this West Wash Park spot has been added to the growing list of restaurant casualties. Etoile, which opened in April next to the infamous Candlelight Tavern at 375 South Pearl Street, specialized in crepes, paninis and treating patrons like family. Server Emmy Hewitt…
Let’s do a quick review of silverware. The fork? Too barbarian. The spoon? Too dainty. The knife? COME ON!!! Chopsticks? Too Asian. The spork? What is this, amateur hour? The Knork? Hell, yeah. A few days ago I got my hands on the newest technology in the gastro-mechanical-delivery-system science. The Knork…
If you get Cafe Bites, our weekly newsletter, you know the routine: Ignore the following, because you learned all this yesterday morning. For everyone else:At 6:30 p.m. today, Lola, at 1575 Boulder Street, hosts the next in its “Pull Up a Seat” dinner series; special guest chef Tyler Wiard of…
For just a moment, I was stunned. It seemed so simple, so harmless: a lumpy mound of milk-white grits on a white plate. Grits — the ultimate comfort food. So poverty-simple and, like Britney Spears, so trash-gone-superstar. The American polenta, the best thing to happen to high-end food costs since…
It was really no surprise when chef Scott Durrah moved 8 Rivers out of its Highland space (now occupied by Venue, reviewed this week) for bigger and better digs down in LoDo. Why? Because he’d already done it before. The Highland 8 Rivers was actually his second Colorado location, following…
Ted’s Montana Grill, the chain started by media-man Ted Turner seven years, is expanding the “Real Deal” it introduced last November to new lunch and dinner menus. “At Ted’s, we’re about real food for real people. During these challenging times, we want to give our guests a break as well…
Eric Stein was online, begrudgingly watching Top Chef audition tapes, trying to figure out why he hadn’t made the cut. After all, he’s a chef, an instructor at Johnson & Wales and a registered dietitian who owns a company that teaches people how to eat well. He even has a…
The Sandwich: BBQ Pork and Special Combo What’s on it: Pork and other meats, cilantro, cucumber, carrots, peppers Where to get it: Ba Le Sandwich, 1044 South Federal Boulevard, 303-922-2129 How much: $2.75 each Back away from the pastrami, sir. And step off the turkey and Swiss. It’s time to…
If you subscribe to Cafe Bites, our weekly restaurant newsletter, you already know the news that follows. If you don’t, keep reading (and then e-mail cafe@westword.com to subscribe). Head to the Avery Tap Room, 5763 Arapahoe Avenue in Boulder, at 5 p.m. today to get a taste of Brabant, first…
And we’re not talking Jon Caldara.FoxNews contributor Michelle Malkin is now an unlikely resident of Colorado Springs — not exactly the state’s hot spot for barbecue. So where did she get the whole roasted pig (and rolls) that she brought to the State Capitol yesterday for Caldara and company’s “no…
While employed in my last-ever cooking gig before coming here, I got to know grits pretty well, because I worked the night-shift at an Albuquerque Waffle House and one of my many responsibilities (along with tossing the drunks and cooking the hash browns and cleaning the grease traps) was fixing…
After meeting in France (where they both attended culinary school), Noah Stephens and Emily Welch came back to Denver, where they just opened their own sandwich shop, Vert Kitchen. It’s only open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (and closed on Monday), has no liquor license — due to the…
Since Kevin Taylor’s Prima in Boulder closed in late 2007, its spot at One Boulder Plaza has housed only a “For Lease” sign. But now Tracy Webb, chef/owner of The Rib House, at 1920 South Coffman Street in Longmont, will turn this location into his second Rib House.Webb is from Kansas City…
So, a few weeks ago, I wrote this little piece titled “How to Create a Great Irish Bar.” It wasn’t something I put a lot of thought into. It wasn’t something that groaned under the weight of background research (unless drinking counts as research). Really, it was just a way to…
One of the first big restaurant deals of the new year was the purchase of Aix — by a new partnership comprised of of Keith Arnold and Stephanie Bonin (owners of Duo), and John Broening and Yasmin Lozada-Hissom (chef and pastry chef of Duo, respectively). When the quartet took on…
I feel like Michael Flatley is riverdancing on my head. When 30,000 college kids move back onto campus after winter break, the inevitable respiratory illnesses spread across campus faster than your everyday STD. (Please keep that movie running while reading this–it is the perfect soundtrack.) A nice, throbbing head cold gave me…
