Blake Jackson
Audio By Carbonatix
The Best of Denver 2022 is out, full of people, places and things we love about the Mile High City. For our 39th edition, we asked a few favorite, out-and-about Denver residents to share their personal bests. Here’s what Jake Browne served up:
Where’s the best place to take visitors to Denver?
Literally any dispensary. It’s old hat to us, but the Willy Wonka moment of seeing the face of a tourist accept that they’re doing nothing illegal and then shift to joy is something I revel in. Plus, you get the bonus of them rarely finishing whatever they buy and leaving it with you.
What’s your favorite place in Denver?
I’ve been going to various incarnations of the bar at 2100 Curtis Street for years, but Wide Right is hands-down my favorite. A dive bar with upscale menu options founded by comedians Meghan DePonceau and Jeremy Pysher, it’s one of those gems where you can still get a decent cocktail or actual buffalo wings adjacent to downtown without getting gouged. The wait for karaoke isn’t awful, and they book some solid stand-up shows. But honestly, it’s a refuge for people who want a cheap can of domestic beer and a basket of something fried.
What’s the best special-occasion spot in Denver?
For being an institution, I think Rioja is massively underrated. I worked as an expo at Chef Jen Jasinski’s Bistro Vendome a lifetime ago and was constantly impressed by her ability to make a simple dish sublime. Look no further than the pork belly and garbanzo flavor explosion humbly dubbed Fresh Bacon, which I’ve tried to replicate for years in vain. The wine list is thoughtful without breaking the bank, while the staff is attentive and smart when it comes to recommendations.
What’s your go-to restaurant in Denver?
I would charge friends $1 on Venmo for the name of my favorite Thai restaurant in Denver for years, but I guess I’m giving it away for free: Suvipa. There are never huge lines because it’s relatively unassuming, tucked away in a strip mall on Federal Boulevard, but it’s where we find ourselves when we can’t decide where to eat. We always start with the face-melting papaya salad, then she gets the green curry, and I vacillate between the Pad Kana Moo Krob and Pad Kaprao with pork.
Where’s the best spot to shop in Denver?
When we want to take a “cheugy day” where we spend too much on coffee and buy a houseplant, we inevitably wind up at Highlands Square. Pop into Wordshop to stock up on legitimately funny greeting cards, The Perfect Petal if you have a quarantine-induced green thumb, or Taj Mut Hall to spoil your, gulp, “fur baby.”
If you have a few spare hours, what’s your favorite thing to do in Denver?
Window shopping on South Broadway never gets old for me. Catch a cheap buzz at The Hornet’s happy hour or with a preroll from Terrapin Care Station and then do some thrifting or find vintage scores at the myriad of small businesses that still somehow exist down there. There are also a few indie bookstores like Mutiny Information Cafe I’ll pop into just to hear people arguing about things.
How about a free day?
When the weather is half-decent, I’ll sit across the Platte River from REI and face west. There are people from all over the city who come there to float around, eat snacks from vendors, and maybe shoot down the mini rapids. We call it Freelitch Gardens. It’s one of the few places in the city that looks more or less indistinguishable from when I moved here.
What’s the best thing about living in metro Denver?
For a city in the West, it feels like everyone’s always on their way to something. For a city that’s changing, it has an indefatigable core of folks keeping Denver rooted in its history. For a city that’s been my home for twenty years, I’m constantly discovering something new.
Jake Browne moved to Denver in 2002 to attend Westwood College after a failed stint as a male model in Milan. He’s spent the last thirteen years working in cannabis, comedy and live events.
