Westerkamps Steakhouse and Meat Market

When Chris Gonzales and his father-in-law, Jaime Rizo, bought an old building in an industrial section of north Denver over a decade ago, it housed a grocery store and meat market that had opened when the neighborhood was filled with Germans. The pair decided to keep the name, converting the shop into a meat market and deli. Several years later, Gonzales kept the butcher but turned most of the space into a sit-down restaurant that's open for breakfast and lunch. Part Norman Rockwell museum, part small-town butcher store and part shrine to Jesus, the place serves up some excellent kitsch. Besides proclamations of love for the Lord, there are photos of '50s Western stars, tools that might have been used on the prairie, old skis hung in an X shape, and hubcaps from classic American cars -- as well as down-home comfort food, including steaks, pork chops and eggs, and heavenly green chile.