Avanti Close-up: Kevin Morrison’s Poco Torteria

 Pinche Taqueria was an instant hit when chef-owner Kevin Morrison upgraded from a food truck to a full-fledged cantina in 2012. Tacos and tequila are the stars there, but happy-hour sliders also have their fans. Those sliders are the closest thing you’ll find to tortas at Morrison’s eateries (he opened…

Review: Cho77 Is a Surprising Street-Level Sequel to ChoLon

If you’ve ever read a series in real time, eager for the next book to be written, you’ll understand how I’ve felt the past few years, waiting for the sequel to ChoLon. It’s not that chef-owner Lon Symensma hasn’t been involved in other projects since he launched his flagship nearly…

Colfax Avenue Roundup: Cheese, Sushi and a Cajun Juke Joint

Tasty Colfax kicks off tonight with its seventh annual food crawl in the Bluebird District, including stops at twenty restaurants — but not Mezcal, which closed on June 7 for a massive overhaul and won’t reopen until the end of summer. But there’s quite a consolation prize: a new cheese shop that…

Avanti Close-up: Dave Bravdica’s Pizzeria Brava

Avanti Food & Beverage opened yesterday in Lower Highland, and we’re profiling all seven of the eateries inside the two-story food hall over the next week. The dish featured above comes from Brava Pizzeria, a more permanent incarnation of Dave Bravdica’s mostly mobile Neapolitan pizza empire. Bravdica operates a wood-burning oven on the…

Reader: The Restaurants Along Federal Boulevard Are Constantly Changing

Driving along Federal Boulevard is a head-turning experience for anyone who follows the Denver dining scene, because restaurants along this stretch are frequently opening, closing or just trading spaces, as Pho Duy recently did when it took over the former home of Wonderbowl. And this past weekend, the storefront at 1703 Federal…

Makan Malaysian Cafe Slows Down the Pace in Platt Park

You won’t find much Malaysian food in Denver. A few restaurants offer snapshots of the cuisine in menu tours of Southeast Asia — like the shrimp and octopus laksa (a spicy noodle soup) that was recently on Cho77’s rotating roster or the handful of offerings at Jaya Asian Grill. But…

Angelo’s Taverna: A Brunch That Really Shucks

Brunch at Angelo’s Taverna is much more than a standard weekend meal — it’s more of a summer Sunday soirée, complete with one of the restaurant’s main attractions: $1 oysters. If happy hour and late-night happy hour aren’t enough (hey, we’re not complaining), Angelo’s recently added a Sunday Oyster Social…

Avanti Closeup: Tim Payne’s Farmer Girl

Avanti Food & Beverage opens today at 11 a.m., so this week we’ll offering a close-up look at each of the seven eateries inside, starting with Farmer Girl, chef/owner Tim Payne’s farm-centered concept built around local and sustainable ingredients. Farmer Girl’s menu will change frequently, especially in the summer when…

First Look: Dos Santos Taqueria Opens Saturday in Uptown

Brothers Kris and Jason Wallenta are ready to start slinging tacos and drinks at Dos Santos Taqueria de Mexico, their Uptown eatery that will open at 5 p.m. Saturday, July 11 in the East 17th Avenue space formerly occupied by D Bar. Chef Kris Wallenta already operates two restaurants in Cozumel,…

Reader: I Ate Both Alpaca and Guinea Pig in Peru — Delicious!

Mark Antonation is no stranger to adventurous eating. And when a recently returned from Peru and extolled the quality of the Andean nation’s cuisine, including alpaca, he started looking for spots where he could find that delicacy here. He located alpaca bondigas on the website of Pikkas — but sadly,…