Ex-employees say Jim Sullivan ran his empire like the dictator he named a restaurant after. Since Monday, when I posted my first blog about the sudden closure of Nine75 and Ocean — Jim Sullivan’s last two Sullivan Restaurant Group operations — my phone has been ringing off the hook. Some…
Now that Ocean has closed, no one will ever make a reservation at Oceanaire thinking they’re dining in Cherry Creek. But once you step inside Oceanaire, the Denver link in a national chain of upscale seafood houses that debuted last year at 1400 Arapahoe Street, you could never mistake it…
Not only am I a very budget-conscious shopper and eater, I have also been a vegetarian for nearly seven years and am married to a lifelong vegetarian. So I know a thing or two about finding affordable, planet- and animal-friendly eats around town. In the weekly Veggie Girl, I’ll be…
“I always bite the right side first…” If I know my fans (and I think I do), I’ll bet that every single one of you — Democrat, Republican or Independent, naturalized citizen or space alien here on those secret intergalactic visas given out by NASA — wants to know what…
October is National Chili Month! But here in Denver, the only chili that matters is spelled with an “e,” and features those hot, hot peppers now being roasted up and down Federal Boulevard. So all this month, chile fans will be weighing in on their favorites around town. I come…
For a slide show from their romantic night, go to westword.com/slideshow. For the video, go here. Irina Voronina sucks at beer pong. Or Beirut, if you prefer that name, which I most certainly do. That’s how the distinctly college game in which competitors stand on either side of a table…
Last week, I got stuck in three “best pizza in blahblahblah” discussions. One was a drunken confession. One was a declarative statement: If I didn’t agree that this was the best pizza ever made, I was some kind of idiot. And one was almost a fistfight over thin-crust-versus-sorta-thin-crust, an angry,…
I was thinking that they could probably hear my stomach rumbling from three tables away. “So, what are you going to have?” Laura asked. “Everything,” I said. “One of everything. Maybe two.” “I’m serious, Jay. What are you going to have?” “What are you going to have?” “I don’t know…
Scott Durrah has moved 8 Rivers from Highland to LoDo “Highlands is no more.” That’s the word from 8 Rivers, which closed its original Denver (but not its original metro) location at 3609 West 32nd Avenue this week. Jason Sheehan loved the place when he reviewed it last November: loved…
For weeks, we kept our eye on the business opportunity ads in the dailies, watching in horror as the price of a “newly remod restaurant for sale” kept dropping, and dropping. The address listed was 102 South Broadway, which meant it was the oddly named Old Guy Pasta & Salad…
Salmon in foreground; turkey in back. Cook’s Fresh Market 1600 Glenarm Place 303-893-2277 Salmon BLT Salmon, bacon, lettuce, tomato, dill aioli on rye. $8.99 Smoked Turkey Smoked turkey, dill havarti cheese, red onions, cucumbers, lettuce, tomato and ranch dressing on whole grain bread. $8.49 Once you get past tuna salad…
October is National Chili Month! But here in Denver, the only chili that matters is spelled with an “e,” and features those hot, hot peppers now being roasted up and down Federal Boulevard. So all this month, chile fans will be weighing in on their favorites around town. When it…
When we heard that the folks behind the Jet Hotel planned to open a new bar in Larimer Square, we couldn’t figure out where it would go. Troy Guard has already claimed the only remaining storefront for TAG, his restaurant that’s slated to open early next year and has already…
I was thinking that they could probably hear my stomach rumbling from three tables away. “So, what are you going to have?” Laura asked. “Everything,” I said. “One of everything. Maybe two.” “I’m serious, Jay. What are you going to have?” “What are you going to have?” “I don’t know…
Back in 2006, Matthew Jansen, chef/owner of Mateo in Boulder, decided to stretch by opening Radda Trattoria, which Jason Sheehan raved about when he reviewed the restaurant in February 2007. Mateo dates back to 2001, and Jansen has scratched the seven-year itch there by adding a new partner: Rayme Rossello,…
Thank you for your continued patronage. Due to the poor economy we have decided to close the restaurant. We are sorry for the any [sic] inconvenience. The sign went up on the front door of Nine75 early this afternoon, and not long after, I got a call from the man…
Just got word that real estate and restaurant magnate Jim Sullivan has finally closed the book on his restaurant empire. On Monday, September 29, the Sullivan Restaurant Group closed both Nine75 (the original, at 975 Lincoln Street) and Ocean (at 201 Columbine Street in Cherry Creek). Saturday was the final…
Strawberry Chex General Mills Rating: Two spoons out of four Cereal description: A roasted rice and corn meal concoction arrayed into puffy squares that resemble a prison window with double-paned bars. Half are the usual Chex light brown, while the other half have been sprayed with pinkish speckles that suggest…
8 Rivers didn’t get its new LoDo restaurant up and running in time for the Democratic National Convention, as originally planned, but according to a sign on the door at 1550 Blake Street, it’s really, really going to open on Wednesday, October 1. And that’s good, because Jason Sheehan is…
The winning chef: James Mazzio. If you missed this year’s Westword Menu Affair at the Fillmore, you’re a dolt. Thirty bucks, open bar, free grub and the chance to see two of Denver’s best chefs — Goose “Batali” Sorensen from Solera and Big Jimmy Mazzio from Via — squaring off…
Hello Parker. Jack in the Box, the California-based fast food chain that left Colorado twelve years ago, is continuing its foray back into the state with a new location in Parker. Jack has already opened stores in Golden and Arvada, and plans a fourth in Thornton. The Parker restaurant, which…
With Liz away on maternity leave, it was left to Aubrey to find willing test subjects to try her latest Walgreen’s find: Brach’s Soda Poppers soda flavored filled hard candies. The task proved harder than you might think, since it seems there are a lot of hard candy haters out…
