Best Government Commitment to Serving Everybody 2014 | Services for Persons With Disabilities | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
Navigation
Support Us
Search

Best Government Commitment to Serving Everybody

Services for Persons With Disabilities

Over the years, the Denver Public Library has added an impressive array of adaptive technologies to assist the visually or hearing impaired and others, from equipment that magnifies reading materials and computer screens to a printer that produces text documents in Braille and scanners that convert print to spoken words. Best of all, much of the new equipment can be found not only at the Central Library, but at several branches, too. Add personal listening systems, sign language interpreters, homebound programs and more, and the idea of equal access to information for all moves that much closer to reality.

Best Hope for IV Drug Users

Harm Reduction Action Center

The Harm Reduction Action Center served injection drug users long before syringe exchanges were legal by providing them not only with clean rigs to help them protect themselves and others against disease, but also with education and classes about how to break free of their addiction. Because of this, the organization has built trust with a population that is skeptical of the medical establishment. In addition, HRAC organizes voting drives and protests; collaborates with artists on multimedia projects; and conducts cutting-edge training — something that has also given it a respected voice at the State Capitol.

  • 733 Santa Fe Dr., Denver, 80204 Map

Best Way to Find Free Condoms

condomfinder.org

The Internet is great for lots of things, obvi. But did you know it can also help you avoid STDs and baby-making? Condomfinder.org, a website backed by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, uses Google Maps to plot all the places in Denver (and several other cities around the country) that give out free condoms. Just enter your zip code, and the site will direct you to the nearest rubber repository. So the next time you're in the mood but out of jimmy hats, whip out your smartphone — and avoid the clap.

Best Name for a Tattoo Shop

Kitchens' Ink Tattoo & Art Gallery

The idea of a stranger digging ink-soaked needles into your skin for hours at a time can be scary, so you have to find comfort where you can when getting a tattoo. Kitchens' Ink provides this comfort through its name, which nods to the coziest room in the house. "It's where everybody hangs out. I liked how personable it is and the easy access the name gave," says owner Joe Manley, who got the idea for it while tattooing a friend in his kitchen. Not everyone gets the pun, and during its first couple of years in business, the shop received countless calls from people looking to buy kitchen supplies. Eight years later, Kitchens' Ink is well known, and clients feel right at home here.

Best Selection of Body Jewelry

Sol Tribe Tattoo & Body Piercing

Courtesy Sol Tribe Custom Tattoo and Body Piercing Facebook page

From steel studs to shell plugs, Sol Tribe is the place to fill your body-modification needs. The shop carries a seemingly endless selection of body jewelry in all shapes, sizes and materials, including gold, silver, bone, glass, wood, stone, shell and stainless steel. But staffers don't just sell the hardware; they install it, too. Owned by Alicia Cardenas and Kevin Strawbridge, Sol Tribe specializes in all types of body modification, from tattoos and piercings to scarification and branding. No matter what type of body jewelry you're looking for, this is the place to find the widest variety and one-of-a-kind pieces.

Best Name for a Hair Salon

Hair and Now

We've been collecting salon names around the globe, but aren't about to split hairs. For pure existential panache, it's hard to beat Hair and Now — which is very much in the now in Aurora's Fairways Shopping Center.

Best Name for a Marijuana Dispensary

Trenchtown MMC

Scott Lentz

Dispensaries with music-related names just make us happy. That's why we've had two Grateful Dead-themed winners in the past and why we're going with Trenchtown, a Bob Marley-inspired shop, this year. As the wise Rastaman once said, "One good thing about music — when it hits you, you feel no pain." Unless, of course, you're smoking poorly grown weed, in which case you could end up with a scratchy throat or headache. Not the case at Trenchtown, where Marley himself would have been feelin' irie over the quality of buds available.

Best Dispensary Name for a Non-Marijuana-Related Business

Colorado Joint Replacement Center

The Colorado Joint Replacement Center sounds like a stoner's dream, but the orthopedic surgery center near the University of Denver is talking about a whole different kind of joint.

Best MMJ Dispensary for Patient Perks

The Herbal Cure

Scott Lentz

Medical marijuana patients designate dispensaries as their primary caregivers in exchange for the right to grow six of their own plants, and it's nice to get something in return. The Herbal Center does right by its patients, who get at least 10 percent off retail pricing on herb, edibles and concentrates as well as a $225 cap on ounces. The store also offers daily deals like Wax Wednesdays — when you can take $5 off the per-gram price of hash — and free-joint Fridays. But what really stands out is the giant prize wheel, which can be spun by patients who spend $35 or more. Prizes range from free THC suckers and $5 coupons to an eighth of herb from the $25 economy shelf or a card punch worth $25. It's like the stoner Price Is Right.

Best Edibles

Incredibles

While some edibles companies have been busted in recent months for selling pot-infused foods with little to no actual pot in them, Incredibles chocolate bars always pack the full punch advertised on their packaging. The bars contain a range of THC concentrates, including icewater hash and CO2-extracted oil. What the Lakewood company doesn't use is alcohol- or butane-based extractions — just natural cannabis and a lot of rich chocolate. Consistently dosed and delightfully downable, these are the chocolate lover's edibles.

Best Of Denver®

Best Of

Use of this website constitutes acceptance of our terms of use, our cookies policy, and our privacy policy Westword may earn a portion of sales from products & services purchased through links on our site from our affiliate partners. ©2024 Denver Westword, LLC. All rights reserved.
Do Not Sell or Share My Information
Powered By Foundation