Pho 99 serves a surprisingly authentic, working-class, streetside kind of pho that, while not exactly rare in Denver (what with its million numbered pho shops and half-million more unclassifiable Vietnamese restaurants), is not the most common iteration of the classic Vietnamese breakfast-lunch-dinner-midnight-snack food, either. Its focus on ingredients and plain…
Inside Pho 99, there are more fish than people – fish in tanks by the door, on the counter, by the register. This is a simple space — comfortable and open and bright, friendly but not much more than functional. People come to Pho 99 to eat, nothing more. Which…
Cap’n Crunch’s Home Run Crunch Quaker Oats Rating: Three and a half spoons out of four Cereal description: Home Run Crunch is dominated by the same corn-and-oat pieces that have been the foundation of original Cap’n Crunch since time immemorial — yellowish squares that do unimaginable mayhem to the roofs…
Can Juicy Lucy’s overcome the curse of 250 Josephine Street? Despite the fact that the address comes with a parking lot — a rarity in Cherry Creek — restaurants that take on this spot never seem to last too long. Papillon had a fairly long run here, but after that…
Billy’s Inn, at 4403 Lowell Boulevard, opened quietly last week — but don’t expect it to stay quiet for long. With a great location, smart menu (dinner only for now, but that will change) and big selection of tequilas, Billy’s — which was a northwest Denver mainstay for more than…
When the Candy Girls caught wind of a chocolate therapist in town, we knew this was something we were destined to investigate. Turns out Julie Pech is an author and lecturer living in Denver who has launched a career speaking to groups about the health benefits of chocolate. Additionally, once…
Get ready to get your drink on! The 7-Eleven convenience store franchise is getting up there in age, and tomorrow will commemorate its 81st year in business. Despite the fact that we think every day can be free Slurpee day (listen, I’m not going to fill my Super Big Gulp…
I’d been having such a good day. A full night’s sleep and then some — rare for me, insomniac that I am. Waking late, bumming around the house in sweatpants, in a rush to get precisely nowhere. First cigarette of the day and a mug of green tea on the…
There are lots of reasons for attending the “Live to the Fullest Cup” event at Fluid Coffee Bar, 501 East 19th Avenue, this Friday at 7 p.m., which will raise money for 26-year-old Semeon Abay, head roaster for the Denver-based Novo Coffee, who was recently diagnosed with advanced metastatic prostate…
Jason Sheehan is no fan of Hell’s Kitchen, but he watches it. And now he’s playing it, as he describes here and here, in his account of week one. Now on to week two: One of the many complications of working in kitchens is being able to do it hurt…
In the Tillemann-Dicks’ house of many talents (the subject of a July 10 Westword feature), 20-year-old Liberty Belle is known for her stellar cooking. That means she not only scrounges up enough food for all 10 of her siblings, but is also skilled enough to keep them all happy. Here…
There’s a lot of action over at Mel’s on Sixth Avenue, which is in the process of changing names and management. And then there’s this odd e-mail from Mel, Jane and Charlie Masters making the rounds, which invites recipients to “Become a Mel’s Bistro Truffle Hound”! The details, in their…
I’d ordered the hash at my first breakfast at Mona’s because I’m a Mick, because I’m a Mick who grew up blue-collar, lower-middle-class in a neighborhood full of blue-collar Murphys, Doogals and McDonoughs, because I’m a lower-middle-class, blue-collar Mick who’s always had a weakness for girls whose families spent their…
The Masters are on the move. Mel’s in Greenwood Village (at 5970 South Holly Street) had a couple of parties (one for friends, and then a knock-down, drag-out staff bash) over the weekend, and is closing today for remodeling. The hostess I talked to last night said that the staff…
Coming home from Breckenridge this weekend, I stopped in at the A&W in Frisco, conveniently located near the entrance ramp to I-70. Though I was sure the ride back to Denver would not be as hellish as the ride up — through a blitzkrieg of Fourth of July traffic –…
Kung Fu Panda Crunchers Kellogg’s Rating: Two spoons out of four Cereal description: The cereal’s building blocks are actually building circles — light tan orbs made of oat and corn flour. Think of them as Kix, or more accurately, fake Kix. These mounds are supplemented by four varieties of marshmallows:…
Timing is everything, and the Georg family picked a very good time to close their Chinook Tavern, a landmark at 265 Detroit Street for almost two decades. By closing up on Tuesday, they managed to avoid the chaos of the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. Now if they can just survive…
A drunk dialer sent us this coaster she discovered at My Brother’s Bar during some early Fourth of July celebrating. It comes complete with ring sizes — and the number for Hyde Park Jewelers. Genius marketing — even if she only got a coaster, and not a ring. Unless you…
I had to have some half-unexpected dental work done a couple of days ago. It was nothing terribly serious but it was serious enough, if you know what I mean. Lot of blood, stitches. An annoyance. And as I was getting finished off in the chair, my dentist (a miracle…
The restaurants keep coming to that block of Broadway just south of Center — three in the last two months alone. First Beatrice & Woodsley and Delite, and now Karma, at 22 South Broadway. A sign on the door announces that it’s “Opening Soon for Dine-In” — and judging from…
Jason Sheehan is no fan of Hell’s Kitchen, but he watches it. And now he’s playing it, as he describes here. Week One: FNG The game is divided into five seven-day weeks with no days off and no quitting until the last table is served and out the door –…
Albuquerque, New Mexico, about eight years ago… The rush started around five. There was never any way to gauge it — nothing scientific, no outward sign. Though we flew a jolly roger from the fryer end and my guys comported themselves like the hippest of pirates (bandannas, tattoos, ear and…
