Reader: Texas Barbecue Should Include Burnt Ends

Texas-style barbecue seldom gets respect in Colorado…mostly because it comes from Texas. But Wayne’s Smoke Shack proves that honest food prepared with passion and skill can overcome even the haters. On our recent visit to Wayne’s, braving Highway 36 traffic and getting lost in a suburban maze of streets was…

Bingo Brunch is a Sunday Score at Squeaky Bean

If you’re getting a late start on Sunday Fun Day, there’s only one place to go — Bingo Brunch at the Squeaky Bean. But be warned: this is an interactive brunch experience. If you just want to eat in peace without being heckled, you’re at the wrong spot. See also:…

Thank God It’s Not Still Fridays at Union Station

In her recent review of The Kitchen Next Door Glendale, Gretchen Kurtz compares the homegrown restaurant group to the decades-old phenomenon of TGI Fridays — not because of the quality of the food, but because of how well the Next Door concept captures the community. “As I downed a stiff…

What to Expect From the Menu at the Nickel

The Nickel opened last week in Hotel Teatro, in the space that was once Kevin Taylor’s Prima, and hungry theater-goers and other downtowners are now following their noses to the new restaurant. What will they find there? The smell of wood smoke emanating from the building as you round the…

Chef Hosea Rosenberg Talks Blackbelly Market and Free Tacos

Like tacos? How about free tacos? We do too. Sea Cuisine — a packaged frozen fish company — is bringing its mobile taco truck to various markets across the country and pairing with notable local chefs to help develop the recipes. They’ll be in Denver through August 14 in various…

Cart-Driver Heats Up RiNo With Wood-Fired Pizza

Chef-owner Kelly Whitaker — of Boulder’s Basta fame — brings his wood-fired cooking skills to Denver with Cart-Driver, his tribute to Italian street food tucked into a tiny spot in the 2500 Larimer retail center built primarily from re-purposed shipping containers. Featuring raw oysters, pizza and other Italian-influenced and flame-kissed…

Ritual Chocolate in RiNo Adds Factory Showroom and Retail Shop

There’s something a little different (and more mouth-watering) amidst the aromas of craft beer and pricey espresso wafting through RiNo these days; it’s coming from Ritual Chocolate. Anna Davies and Robbie Stout, the pair behind Colorado craft chocolate company Ritual, have been making their chocolate bars since 2011, but have…

Photos: BurgerFi Is Now Burgerfying Broadway

Earlier this spring we brought news that California all-natural burger chain BurgerFi had started construction on Broadway. The fast-casual burger eatery, which gets its name from its stated goal of the “burgerfication of the nation,” began flipping beef late last week for what may be an already-burgerfied Denver market. Our…

Reader: No Cell-Phone Cameras in Restaurants!

Last week we received numerous tips that Food Network star Alton Brown was having lunch at Stoic & Genuine in Union Station — a choice we thought was a little odd for someone trying to have a quiet lunch away from the glare of cameras. After all, it’s been one…

100 Favorite Dishes: Crispy Pork Spare Ribs at Table Top

No. 85 Crispy spare ribs at Table Top 2230 Oneida Street 720-542-9035 Table Top has only been open a few weeks in the quaint Oneida Park shopping center in Park Hill, but chef Brady Marcotte has already dialed in the flavors of what he calls “smokehouse-inspired new American cooking” to…

Photos: It’Sugar opens at the Denver Pavilions

Downtown just got a whole lot sweeter. It’Sugar, a candy shop, has opened its brightly colored doors in the Denver Pavilions, providing a place for kids, passersby and anyone else with a sweet tooth to get their candy fix. We sent photographer Philip Poston to check out this city’s latest…

100 Favorite Dishes: Mar y Tierra Molcajete at Paxia

No. 86 Mar y Tierra Molcajete at Paxia 4001 Tejon Street 720-583-6860 The molcajete, a Mesoamerican stone mortar and pestle, didn’t evolve as a cooking implement. They were — and still are — traditionally used for grinding and pounding herbs, spices and chiles and preparing salsas and moles. But somewhere…

Photos: All aboard for the restaurants of Union Station

Have you seen the renovated Union Station yet? If not, you might be the only one — the place has been packed since the restaurants started rolling out, attracting everyone from suburban lookyloos to Alton Brown, who was eating at Stoic & Genuine on Wednesday. With the grand-opening festivities over,…