Best Smothered Fries 2001 | Chubby Burger Drive-In | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Smothered Fries

Chubby Burger Drive-In

There are many theories as to how it happened, but the most popular one goes like this: A while back, a cook was standing behind the counter at the Chubby Burger Drive-In enjoying his favorite snack -- a plate of French fries (a hangover menu item from the previous owner) drowned in cheddar cheese and green chile (a speciality of the new owner) -- when a few customers asked what he was eating. "Smothered fries," he replied. The customers ordered a plate, wolfed down the fries, and later returned for more. Word spread, one thing led to another, and smothered fries became the hottest-selling item on a roster of of hot-selling items. Now practically everything at this 33-year-old, family-owned burrito stand comes drowned in green chile and cheese. There have been many imitators, but there is only one original plate of smothered fries. And there's only one place to find it: the original Chubby Burger.

Best French Toast

WaterCourse Foods

Anyone can take a slice of bread, soak it in an egg batter, fry it and call it French toast. But chef/owner Dan Landes pays attention to the details at his vegetarian-focused WaterCourse Foods, and so he uses sweet, nutmeg-flecked banana bread, sliced thick and fried until golden, for his French toast. You can skip the syrup (although it's available); the toast is always moist, and honey-roasted walnuts on top add a deep sweetness that goes well with the bread. There's no bacon, of course, but fresh fruit rounds out the plate nicely. Add a tall, expertly poured latte and get ready to go with the flow at WaterCourse.

Best French Toast

WaterCourse Foods

Anyone can take a slice of bread, soak it in an egg batter, fry it and call it French toast. But chef/owner Dan Landes pays attention to the details at his vegetarian-focused WaterCourse Foods, and so he uses sweet, nutmeg-flecked banana bread, sliced thick and fried until golden, for his French toast. You can skip the syrup (although it's available); the toast is always moist, and honey-roasted walnuts on top add a deep sweetness that goes well with the bread. There's no bacon, of course, but fresh fruit rounds out the plate nicely. Add a tall, expertly poured latte and get ready to go with the flow at WaterCourse.

Best Place to Score With a Fifty-Something Whose Ex-Spouse Got the Mercedes

D�jà Vu

There they sit, mostly at Deja Vu's bar, well-manicured and well-lubed, looking for someone with whom to lament their lot in life and talk tax shelters. Their purses (or their money clips) match their shoes (or their bolo ties), and they look longingly at the bar menu before announcing that the Atkins diet has been a godsend. Food of choice: martini, dry, with many olives to relieve sexual tension.

Best Place to Score With a Fifty-Something Whose Ex-Spouse Got the Mercedes

Déjà Vu

There they sit, mostly at Deja Vu's bar, well-manicured and well-lubed, looking for someone with whom to lament their lot in life and talk tax shelters. Their purses (or their money clips) match their shoes (or their bolo ties), and they look longingly at the bar menu before announcing that the Atkins diet has been a godsend. Food of choice: martini, dry, with many olives to relieve sexual tension.

Best Steakhouse

Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House

Del Frisco's Double Eagle is still the meat to beat. At this classy steakhouse, the prime, dry-aged, cut-to-order beef is inevitably what's for dinner. To go with it, order one of the substantial sides -- the skillet potatoes and onions will put hair on your chest -- along with a bottle of wine from Del Frisco's well-stocked cellar and a knock-out dessert. Your steak will arrive perfectly cooked and impeccably served in an atmosphere that's at once elegant and amiable. And if you get to watch a Bronco pulling up steaks at the next table, so much the better.

Best Steakhouse

Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House

Del Frisco's Double Eagle is still the meat to beat. At this classy steakhouse, the prime, dry-aged, cut-to-order beef is inevitably what's for dinner. To go with it, order one of the substantial sides -- the skillet potatoes and onions will put hair on your chest -- along with a bottle of wine from Del Frisco's well-stocked cellar and a knock-out dessert. Your steak will arrive perfectly cooked and impeccably served in an atmosphere that's at once elegant and amiable. And if you get to watch a Bronco pulling up steaks at the next table, so much the better.

Best Tequila Bar

La Cueva

Courtesy La Cueva Colfax Facebook
Man does not live by tortilla alone. For example, there's also tequila. Tequila that's twenty years old, tequila that's a hundred years old, tequila that comes in that familiar Jose Cuervo bottle, tequila that comes in containers worthy of museum status. The tequila just keeps coming to La Cueva, a 27-year-old restaurant on East Colfax that welcomed in the millennium by adding a trendy tequila-and-margarita bar to its already substantial lineup of authentic Mexican fare. The dishes come from Norma Nuez, and she's justifiably proud of them -- so much so that she's produced a book of her recipes.

Best Tequila Bar

La Cueva

Man does not live by tortilla alone. For example, there's also tequila. Tequila that's twenty years old, tequila that's a hundred years old, tequila that comes in that familiar Jose Cuervo bottle, tequila that comes in containers worthy of museum status. The tequila just keeps coming to La Cueva, a 27-year-old restaurant on East Colfax that welcomed in the millennium by adding a trendy tequila-and-margarita bar to its already substantial lineup of authentic Mexican fare. The dishes come from Norma Nuñez, and she's justifiably proud of them -- so much so that she's produced a book of her recipes.

Best Chips and Salsa

Benny's Restaurante & Cantina

Although it seems like Benny Armas, owner of Benny's Restaurante & Cantina, has been around forever (he started in the kitchen at the late, great Oak Alley Inn twenty years ago, and today his namesake place has lines out the door), his chips are always fresh and his salsa always sassy. A second after you reply "yes" to what are often the server's only words of English -- "chips and salsa?" -- a basket lands on your table, full of freshly fried and lightly salted tortilla chips, accompanied by a bowl of tongue-tinglingly spicy salsa. We'd willingly pay for this starter -- and, in fact, Benny's used to charge $1.50 for chips and salsa -- but today it's given out gratis. Gracias.

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